Penn State Sanctions: University Accepts, Paterno Family Rejects, NCAA Punishment
The NCAA handed Penn State a pretty severe punishment due to the Jerry Sandusky scandal. The university was fined $60 million, the football team is being banned from bowl games for the next four years, and the school will have to give up all of its wins from the last 13 years.
The Inquisitr reported earlier that the sanctions also include a reduction of scholarships for football, a limit for annual scholarships, and a five year probation for all sports.
Penn State released a statement after receiving the sanctions, saying that they accepted the NCAA’s punishment.
Penn State University President Rodney Erickson, said:
“It is important to know we are entering a new chapter at Penn State and making necessary changes… We must create a culture in which people are not afraid to speak up, management is not compartmentalized, all are expected to demonstrate the highest ethical standards, and the operating philosophy is open, collegial, and collaborative.”
Erickson told Reuters that the school would pay $12 million a year to create a special endowment to fund programs to combat child abuse at the school.
Penn State is looking to move past the Jerry Sandusky scandal and hopefully in a few years the university will be a better place due to the NCAA sanctions. But not everyone sees it that way.
Joe Paterno’s family released a statement today saying that the NCAA should not have punished the athletes who had nothing to do with Sandusky’s crimes.
The family writes in a statement:
“That the President, the Athletic Director and the Board of Trustees accepted this unprecedented action by the NCAA without requiring a full due process hearing before the Committee on Infractions is an abdication of their responsibilities and a breach of their fiduciary duties to the University and the 500,000 alumni. Punishing past, present and future students of the University because of Sandusky’s crimes does not serve justice. This is not a fair or thoughtful action; it is a panicked response to the public’s understandable revulsion at what Sandusky did.”
The recently released Freeh Report names several officials, including Joe Paterno, who knew about Jerry Sandusky’s actions and refused to take action. Paterno’s family insists that the Freeh Report is not the final word on the matter and says that Penn State should not have accepted the NCAA’s punishment.
The family writes:
“The release of the Freeh report has triggered an avalanche of vitriol, condemnation and posthumous punishment on Joe Paterno. The NCAA has now become the latest party to accept the report as the final word on the Sandusky scandal. The sanctions announced by the NCAA today defame the legacy and contributions of a great coach and educator without any input from our family or those who knew him best.”
What do you think about the Penn State sanctions?
