Friday, January 16, 2015
By Kevin Zwick
Staff Reporter
Capitolwire
HARRISBURG (Jan. 16) – A proposed agreement between the NCAA and Penn State announced Friday would repeal the consent decree against Penn State University that levied crushing sanctions against the school in the aftermath of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.
As part of the proposed agreement, Penn State has agreed to commit $60 million toward child welfare programs in Pennsylvania. The NCAA also has agreed to restore 112 of the football program’s victories between 1998 and 2011, which makes legendary football coach Joe Paterno, once again, the winningest coach in major college football history.
“The NCAA has surrendered,” said Sen. Jake Corman, R-Centre, who along with state Treasurer Rob McCord, filed a lawsuit that at first sought control of the $60 million fine but which evolved into a challenge over the validity of the consent decree. The proposed agreement ends the litigation.
The Penn State Board of Trustees and the NCAA approved the agreement Friday.
The collegiate sports governing board did not admit any wrongdoing regarding its authority to impose the consent decree. The new agreement stipulates “Penn State acknowledges the NCAA’s legitimate and good faith interest and concern regarding the Jerry Sandusky matter,” according to a statement from the NCAA.
“If you thought what you did was right, you wouldn’t have repealed the consent decree,” Corman said Friday during a Capitol press conference announcing the agreement.
Penn State President Eric Barron in a statement said that the university is “pleased” the parties agreed to settle, and said NCAA officials acted in “good faith” and showed “legitimate interest and concern about the Jerry Sandusky matter.”
A statement from the Paterno family says the “repeal of the consent decree and the return of the wins to the University and Joe Paterno confirm that the NCAA and the Board of Trustees acted prematurely and irresponsibly in the unprecedented sanctions that NCAA imposed on the University, the players, coaches and the community.”
Penn Staters for Responsible Stewardship, a pro-Paterno organization of Penn State alumni, said they do not support the agreement because the NCAA has not admitted any wrongdoing.
“The Consent Decree must be unambiguously retracted and the NCAA must apologize to the Penn State community for the language used in that decree,” the group’s statement said.
The new Athletics Integrity Agreement between Penn State and NCAA also calls for further compliance checks with an integrity officer and the university agreeing to put up $60 million toward in-state child welfare programs, according to the NCAA.
Corman told reporters the agreement was “akin to the mercy rule.” He summed up the controversial consent decree and actions by the NCAA as “capitalizing on a horrific crime” and said the organization “manipulated the process” to achieve a particular outcome.
In 2011, the Office of Attorney General announced molestation charges against Sandusky and accused two former university administrators with a cover up. Paterno was fired as head coach and died a few months later in January 2012. Sandusky in June 2012 was convicted of raping 10 boys and he is now serving a lengthy prison sentence.
Shortly after in July 2012, the Penn State Board of Trustees at the time hired former FBI Director Louis Freeh to conduct an investigation which found top administrators essentially “empowered” Sandusky to prey victims. The NCAA, based on Freeh’s report, determined there was an “unprecedented failure of institutional integrity” at the university and issued the consent decree, to which the university agreed. The sanctions imposed a $60 million fine, a four-year ban on post-season play, limited scholarships, and vacated 112 wins between 1998 and 2011, undoing Hall of Fame coach Paterno’s reputation as winningest coach.
The lawsuit sought to control the monetary penalty, which the NCAA planned to use for child welfare programs across the country. Corman argued since the school is partially taxpayer-funded, the fine money should go to in-state child welfare programs.
Prior to Friday’s announcement, the NCAA had already rolled back the ban on post-season games and restored the scholarships as Corman’s lawsuit made its way through Commonwealth Court and the university worked to implement integrity changes.
Corman and McCord’s lawsuit was headed for trial next month, which meant information about usually-closed and insulated institutions like Penn State and NCAA would have been aired out in public. After a recent federal court ruling against the NCAA, Corman said the NCAA was more willing to discuss an agreement.
Matt Haverstick, a lawyer with the law firm Conrad O’Brien, who led Corman’s lawsuit, said Corman and McCord’s case, which was set to go to trial in Commonwealth Court next month, would have showed the NCAA “used Penn State and the Sandusky horror for its own end – to be the new sheriff in town.”
Haverstick said there is no gag order on talking about the case and more information about what lawyers uncovered through deposition will be revealed.
“There’s a story to be told and it’s important for the Commonwealth to know,” he said.
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