August 8, 2012
Does NCAA have authority to “kill” Penn State football?
…We have downloaded and read NCAA Constitution, Operating Bylaws, Administrative Bylaws.
It is not clear to us that the NCAA had the power to “kill” any athletic program and, if it does, the process and safeguards would have made it extremely unlikely under the current circumstances. And even so, the penalties and fines levied seem to be a stretch of its powers and susceptible to successful appeal within the NCAA and, if necessary, in a court of law.
Furthermore, while it is possible that only Penn State University has standing to challenge most of the sanctions in court, we hypothesize that any major Penn State donor or group of donors may have standing to challenge the $60 million fine.
There must be a lot of Penn State lawyers who have concerns about the NCAA penalties. We invite them to review the NCAA Constitution, Operating Bylaws, Administrative Bylaws and share their thoughts with our readership and also with Penn Staters for Responsible Stewardship , or PS4RS , a recently formed alumni group not affiliated with the University.
