Penn State president: 'We are committed to addressing our failings'

DUNMORE, Lackawanna County ? A day after a scathing report revealed a cover-up of child sexual abuse at Penn State, officials at the university vowed to promptly address the report's recommendations and reconsider the university's "leadership culture."

University President Rodney A. Erickson, during a board of trustees meeting at the university's Worthington campus here, said he has appointed a team of three top university officials to coordinate operational changes recommended by special investigator Louis Freeh's 267-page report.

"We are committed to addressing our failings," Erickson said.

While adding that it will take time to review the report and its recommendations, "it has become clear to me that we need to reconsider our community's leadership culture," he said.

Meanwhile, Karen Peetz, the board's chairwoman, reiterated that her board "accepts full responsibility for each of the failures that occurred in cooperation with the administration."

She said board committees at a September meeting are expected to present "action plans" after reviewing portions of Freeh's report that pertain to their function on the board. She expects the board to adopt most, if not all of the 119 recommendations in the report.

"We will take every action to ensure events like these never happen again," Peetz said.

Later, during a news conference, university officials said it's too early to say what the future holds for the statue of former football coach Joe Paterno at the university and the use of his name and likeness. Peetz, responding to a question, referred to that as a "sensitive issue," saying it would take a "lot of deliberation and discussion."

In a report released Thursday on the Jerry Sandusky sex-abuse scandal, Freeh, a former head of the FBI, said Paterno and top Penn State administrators covered up child sex-abuse allegations against Sandusky for more than a decade to protect the university.

His report also slammed the board of trustees for failing to perform its oversight duties.

University President Graham Spanier resigned in the wake of the scandal. Vice President for Finance and Business Gary Schultz and Athletic Director Tim Curley face trial for allegedly lying to a grand jury.

Without mentioning any of the men by name, Peetz said, "It's sufficient to say that the investigation concluded that certain people at the university in a position to protect children ? failed to do so."

The Freeh team's findings could have serious consequences for the university, which faces civil lawsuits by some of Sandusky's victims, an NCAA investigation of how the Penn State football program was managed, and charges against Schultz and Curley of failing to report a crime. Erickson said he would be in contact with the NCAA in the next two weeks.

The university has been named in three civil lawsuits related to the Sandusky scandal at U.S. District Court. None of three plaintiffs were among the victims in the grand jury report on charges against Sandusky, according to trustee Ira Lubert, who said he expects additional suits to be filed.

He said former assistant coach Mike McQueary has filed court papers outlining his plans to file a whistle-blower lawsuit, adding that "we don't believe Mr. McQueary's claims have any merit."

In February 2001, McQueary saw Sandusky in a locker room shower with a boy and reported it to Paterno.

Meanwhile, the board began implementing a number of changes, which included lowering trustee term limits from 15 years to 12 years beginning next year and starting a 30-minute public comment period at meetings.

The board also appointed a new vice president and general counsel ? Stephen Dunham ? and announced that a search is under way for a new chief compliance officer.

In addition, the university will hire a new coordinator of the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Police and Campus Crime Statistics Act and provide related training. The act was named for Jeanne Clery, a 19-year-old Lehigh University freshman who was raped and murdered in 1986 in her dorm room.

Freeh's report noted that top officials, including Paterno, were obligated under the Clery Act to report the shower incident to the university police department.

Source: http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-penn-state-freeh-report-trustees-20120713,0,262204.story?track=rss

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