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Subscribe to RSSThe Penn State community and its storied football program are reeling after the NCAA announced unprecedented sanctions for the school as a result of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.
When the NCAA and the Big Ten conference announced punishing sanctions for Penn State on Monday in the Jerry Sandusky sexual abuse scandal, the impact for the school’s vaunted football team was tangible and immediate.
What’s harder to calculate is how much damage the scandal will cause to the rest of Penn State. Here’s why: The crisis was unprecedented — striking at the heart of the university’s identity, involving crimes that took place over a long period and implicating figures at the highest levels of university administration.
Penn State commissioned the investigation led by former FBI director Louis Freeh, upon which the NCAA sanctions were based, but crisis management experts suggest that it was just a first step needed to reassure donors, alumni, students and applicants to the school.
"They will have to do a lot to come clean," said Larry Barton, president and professor of management at the American College in Bryn Mawr, Pa., and author of several books on crisis management. "It’s not going to go away merely by changing the cover of the alumni magazine to show a professor of anthropology."
The NCAA sanctions include a $60 million fine against Penn State’s football program — roughly the amount the team has earned annually — to be applied to fighting child abuse. The college athletic governing association also cut the number of football scholarships Penn State can offer in coming years and erased more than a decade worth of football victories from the official record. That meant the late Joe Paterno is no longer the winningest football coach ever.
The Freeh report "presents an unprecedented failure of institutional integrity leading to a culture in which a football program was held in higher esteem than the values of the institution, the values of the NCAA, the values of higher education, and most disturbingly the values of human decency," according to the NCAA conclusions and sanctions.
The Big Ten conference then barred Penn State from playing in postseason bowl games for four years, forfeiting an expected $13 million in revenue.
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The measures were "staggering" in scope with "potential to impact the program for a decade, if not much, much longer," NBC sports reported.
How much more will the sanctions and scandal scar the university?
Typically, donations to athletic donations take a hit when the crisis’ epicenter is in the athletic department, said Rae Goldsmith, vice president at the nonprofit Council for Advancement and Support of Education in Washington, D.C.
"There is traditionally a pretty specific division between giving to academics and giving to athletics," said Goldsmith. "When a crisis hits athletics you can see a hit to giving for athletics but not to academic programs."
On July 9, the university announced that a record number of individual donors had contributed a total dollar amount that was second highest in university history — $208.7 million — during the 2011-2012 fiscal year. That included money for the Nittany Lions.
The Penn State football team has been an economic powerhouse for the region, but now local businesses will almost certainly pay a price for the sexual abuse scandal. NBC's Anne Thompson reports.
The university trumpeted the "steadfast support" by alumni and friends "despite a year that was marked by unprecedented challenges."
However, those results cover the full fiscal year — going back to months before the scandal became public.
They were also announced a few days before the release of the Freeh report, which was a detailed and scathing indictment of key figures at the university who failed to act on eyewitness information of Sandusky apparently raping a child in campus showers and other information.
Related content:
- What the Freeh report says about Sandusky's associates
- Expert: Penn state report ups legal risk for former president
- Former Penn State president says he didn't cover for Sandusky, didn't know details
The report emphasized the roles what it calls the "four most powerful people" at Penn State — "who failed to protect against a child sexual predator harming children for over a decade." It said they "concealed Sandusky’s activities from the Board of Trustees, the University community and authorities."
Among them was revered head football coach Paterno, Penn State President Graham Spanier, athletic director Timothy Curley and vice president Gary Shultz. All four were forced out of their jobs over the scandal.
Paterno was fired Nov. 9, and died two months later. Spanier was forced to leave his leadership post, but remains on at Penn as a tenures professor. Curley and Schultz are facing charges of failing to report alleged abuses and of perjury.
Sandusky was convicted on 45 counts on June 11 and is in jail awaiting sentencing.
In the near term, there are some tangible costs to Penn State as a whole.
The $60 million fine puts a dent in football revenue that is normally used to support non-revenue sports.
And NCAA President Mark Emmert said at Monday’s press conference that the money could not "come at the cost of reduced programs in the athletic department and other student scholarships."
In an email response to a query about covering that cost, Penn State spokesman David LaTorre wrote: "The University will use its athletics reserve fund, capital maintenance budget and if necessary, an internal bond issue, to address the fine. We’re pleased the funding will be used toward important programs to help children who are victims of child abuse."
Moody's Investors Service said Tuesday that it may cut its rating on Penn State's credit because of the sanctions and the scandal laid out in the Freeh report, which it said could hurt student enrollment and fundraising for the university, the Associated Press reported. Moody's says Penn State has about $1 billion in debt.
Goldsmith said the scandal may take a toll on student enrollment, though that cost is harder to quantify.
"If students are coming for a specific program, they will still come," said Goldsmith. "For students who were not committed up front and may have several choices, the institution needs to pay special attention."
Ex-Penn State president disputes Freeh report
But she noted: "It’s a challenge for any institution that relies heavily on the reputation of any one program. When there’s trouble in that program, the institution could have a significant branding problem."
Barton said he did not see a risk to the university’s ability to recruit high quality instructors or to its academics winning research grants.
However, he predicted that the scandal could discourage major donations from people who are thinking about their own legacies.
"There’s no way to calculate the untold gifts from potential contributors — especially from baby boomers — who are actively planning their estates. It’s going to be difficult for Penn State to earn the trust of those individuals," he said.
"It is important to know we are entering a new chapter at Penn State and making necessary change," Penn State President Rodney Erickson said in a statement after the announcement of NCAA sanctions.
"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."
Barton argues that the university should create a comprehensive multiyear program that includes bold initiatives, such as removing most of the Board of Trustees, who the Freeh report noted had failed in their job of oversight.
"I think there should be a national conference on pedophilia that Penn State hosts,” said Barton. "It would say it happened here, it could happen to you."
"Handing the investigation over to Louis Freeh was an extremely smart, savvy first move," said Barton, the crisis management expert. "But it really should not be the last one. It should be the liftoff to an ongoing series of reviews and disclosures about how do you turn a huge debacle into a better Penn State."
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What a total travesty. The sad part is it hurts so many that were not involved but the failures were so egregious there was no other solution. The "death penalty" would have been easier to overcome.
I believe this will get right to the heart of one person more than any other. Remorse unending, scathing, god has foresaken me in his actions against all that he held dear to his heart: The football program. Jerry Sandusky wakes up in the night moaning for what he has done to his football program, and nothing more.
The university should realize that many civil suits will be brought against them consisting of the victims named in the criminal trial and many others who will later who's claims will be substantiated. I would never contribute to such a group of administrators and board of trustees who exibited criminal neglect and I hope the alumni reconsider any notion of making future donations for at least a decade.
So what have we learned about the whole Penn State mess? It is a more sevre crime to commit homosexual pedophile rapes than to commit date rapes on campuses. The NCAA has punished the whole university, particularly the football team, for transgressions of a university staff member. But since he was a member of the football program and there were other members of the football program that may have had knowledge of it, then the football program suffers. If a member of the engineering faculty had committed a rape of a student and other faculty members had knowledge of it would all of the school of engineering be penalized?
I'm not suggesting that the rapes should be overlooked - quite the contrary. I'm suggesting that the penalties be comensurate with the crimes. For years universities have swept date rapes, student rapes, drug crimes, etc under the rug. It is time to punish those who condoned such practices. However, punishing students by not allowing scholarships, punishing rape victims by not allowing funding to anti-rape programs, etc seems to be counterproductive to "healing". Punish the perpetrators and onlookers, not the innocent bystanders.
Renee, you have made a very valid and convincing argument. I was on the fence about the NCAA's decision, but your statements make more sense than anything else I've read. Thank you for your insightful post!
The Big Ten conference then barred Penn State from playing in postseason bowl games for four years, forfeiting an expected $13 million in revenue.
I agree with the fines to Penn State, the reduction of scholarship money. However, doesn't preventing them from post season play affect more than just the school. It affects current players that did nothing wrong, and while they can transfer and still be eligible, that may not be an option for some. So, in essence you are penalizing 18 and 19 year olds that had nothing to do with what happened other than chosing the wrong schoodl and now they are penalized for it. Giving them the option to transfer is all good, but what about those that want to transfer but do not get scholarship offers from other universities? What about seniors who cannot transfer credit hours as most universities will not accept senior transfers.
The other issue I have is the enconomic impact that private residence of the town will incur. How many business owners rely on the 100,000 weekly football fans to come to their restaraunts, bars, stores, etc. Again, they had no control over what the coaches did and the university did, but will be direclty affected by this.
Wouldn't a better penalty have been to increase the amount of the fine and make Penn State donate all post season revenues to a foundation to prevent child abuse. Stick it to the University all you want, but don't penalize the players and the town that is gains a large amount of financial support from the football program.
As an advocate for children and a parent of children, I am all for catching pedophiles and their enablers and punishing them, without question. But having read the complete Freeh Report, parts of the Grand Jury testimony and the McQueary and Dranov testimony in the Sandusky trial, I don't see any evidence of a cover up. Sandusky is certainly very guilty but many of the conclusions of the Freeh Report don't follow from the evidence it contains. It has a prosecutor's style that assumes guilt and ignores the evidence that argues for innocence. It uses hindsight to accuse people of things there is no or little evidence for. It indicts parties without including their response to the accusations. But it's conclusions are now considered gospel. The data in the Freeh Report show that a 1998 incident of Sandusky showering with a boy was thoroughly investigated by the Police, several County and State Agencies, a counselor and was reported to the County DA's Office. The conclusion of the investigation was "no sexual assault occurred". There was nothing to conceal and all the appropriate reporting was done. The 2001 incident hinges only on the story of McQueary who heard something suspicious to him and then saw a boy who was not upset and then saw Sandusky. He told the story to a very reputable observer, Dr. Dranov, the night of the incident. Dr. Dranov testified that he asked McQueary three times if he saw anything "sexual" and each time McQueary said "no". This is what was told to Paterno and the administrators in 2001. Not much for anyone to go on. There is no record indicating that Paterno tried to cover anything up or control the out come. None. After more than 50 years of his life spent nurturing and guiding youths into becoming men, it would be out of character for Paterno to protect a pedophile. How this whole situation came into being is yet to be discovered. It most likely has to do with the Politics of the Board of Trustees and the exaggeration and sensationalism of the media. They were "swift boated". The NCAA piled on.
PSU will never see one cent from me. Not because of the scandal, but because of the cowardly position the administration has taken in dealing with the NCAA. To permit the NCAA to circumvent the Committee on Infractions (which would have prevented the NCAA from acting due to lack of jurisdiction), and then agreeing to those sanctions without first informing the board of trustees (ironically enough, the biggest fault laid on Spanier) is a disgrace.
The principle of due process was thrown under the bus to appease the mob. Good luck finding a new job when all your sources of revenue dries up.
I'm sure Penn State is going to dry up from the lack of your support. There are far too many Happy Jacks that will blindly shell out money for their precious PSU football. The culture that caused this will be the culture that saves the program. Football is God in Happy Valley and will not fail. The worst crime on the face of the planet isn't heinous enough to keep those idiots from filling that stadium.
You are right Joey - they took in 208 million in donations since the first of year...and the majority will stay in denial!
More often than not, when you run a poor business it generally goes out of business. The students are not shareholders or owners; they are customers. Let them take their tuition dollars elsewhere. Stop concentrating of sports and apply all efforts to higher education.
Gosh, maybe now Penn State will start TEACHING.
And what makes you think the school doesn't teach now?? I know some graduates from Penn State and they seem pretty well educated -- do you know something that we don't?? What to share your insights?? Please do!!
I never went to Penn State but I an say they do teach. I have way too many friends who are teachers,veterinarian who all graduated from there.
I know because I TAUGHT at Penn State for over ten years. Academically, it's a big joke.
Game, set and match to Cassia!
Name one person of renown that is recognized in their career field because they graduated from PSU based on academics and not athletics.
What has been lost is trust. Another value that has been lost is honor. I would make a suggestion to the University English Department that as freshmen the classic LORD JIM, by Joseph Conrad be on the required reading list.
the guy who created ncis miami was a penn state grad. also, many ceo's and other notable persons in the film industry are also penn state grads
Penn State is a good school
Now that there is precedence set, lets apply the same rules to the catholic church who harbored and covered up for pedophile priests for decades. Forfeit all money collected since the early 60's when this was going on. Trillions of dollars probably. All marriages and baptisms done by pedophile priests are null and void. The pope needs to vacate his position and do jail time. That should about do it. Why does the catholic church hate gays, hate birth control, but pedophile priests? Well that's just what priests do. No big deal.
You show amazing ignorance of how the Catholic Church is run and I guess you missed the information of priests and monsignors now serving jail time for their actions and coverups. But, you feel better spewing your anti-catholic bigotry, don't you.
Wow CME they give one guy 3-6 yrs for covering up what took place over 40 yrs and you think the slate is clea?
Maybe you can give us an update on how many priests, bishops, etc are doing jail time for the tens upon tens of thousands of abuse cases in your Church?
Good grief - give it a rest - no one needs to listen to advice from Catholics on this issue!
Protect the Fetus
Abuse the Child
Protect the Abusers
Your Catholic Church for 40 years!
Unfortunately, the Catholic Church doesn't fall under the auspices of the NCAA (unless, perhaps, you're Notre Dame or something). If it were up to me, Penn State would already be shut down for good, and so would the Catholic Church. Those institutions allowed children to be raped over time, and therefore they've forfeited the right to continue to operate in a civilized society. Their leadership should be jailed for life and their money disbursed to child abuse centers around the world.
And to pour salt on the gaping wounds that remain, the past president stands up with his proud bold face, characteristic of his immense unceasing arrogance, and states that he was not informed of any abuses. The inherent evil of this is immeasurable. I feel the University should be fined 1 Billion dollars itself, in addition to the football teams fine of 60 million. Considering near record donations to the University after this debacle, it is simply mind boggling. Is this Penn State? Nice!
I saw nothing about what the cost of the law suits the school will have to absorb. That will add up to millions too.
@ Cassia - For one to infer that having a successful sports program yields an ineffective educational program is a display of ignorance. I assume you went to Pitt.
Well, she did claim her source as primary as a former Penn State educator, so what's YOUR source?
Maybe she was alluding to the fact that there is more emphasis on athletics than academics. Graduates from PSU aren't recognized for their academic achievements but are for their athletic achievements.
It just seems unlikely that Sandusky at age 54 suddenly became wanton pedophile, his association with the football program started nearly 30 years earlier. Even with modest knowledge of the football program then, it was clear to some that the program was as insulated from normal campus activities in a fashion that was unseemly, as the players were in separate universe of their own. The entire program grew into the monster, with investments taking over the whole University, including preferred football credentials for the University Staff.
This was years and years in the making, and in they dying there is still, little acceptance of the blame by the persons claiming unfair, unfair. Those few in the closest inner circle, of the inner sanctum of football, in its private quarters, and its position high above, mere students, are tragic characters in the worst way. Never will so many, suffered so much, for so long to erase this life defining disaster. The concentration of power so distorted and warped the University in its collapse, it may possibly be the worse ever to affect so many, many people who cross the threshold.
Of the more than 665,200 degrees awarded, how may will have to accept the blame, or will make a permanent change to this cannot happen again.
They only used cases in the Sandusky Trial that were still under the statute of limitations. However, other alleged victims have now reported abuse as far back as into the 1970's! So he didn't just up and start his perverted pedophilic endeavors in 1998.
Undergrad and MBA. A handful of world class colleges such as materials science, business, science.
Maybe Penn State should start focusing more attention on its academic programs than it's football program. A great university can still be a great university without a football program. After all, isn't education their primary mission?
The problem is much bigger than just Penn State. The worship of high profile sports (mainly football and basketball) in many of our colleges and universities has led to the attitude that "anything goes" when it comes to protecting those programs. Sports have become larger than the schools themselves and more important than academics. There really needs to be a complete re-writing of the rules, especially in recruiting, scholarships and player eligibility.
The Ivy League has the right idea with no athletic scholarships (all are based solely on financial need), limited pre-season practice, relatively low program costs (including coaches salaries), etc.
Paterno wasn't even all that great a coach. Many coaches have more wins than him! Lol...
I did not claim that having a successful sports program yields an ineffective educational program. I was referring to a specific school, one that I know quite well, Penn State.
Not only a child rape enabler but a crappy coach to boot. Paterno hasn't won a single game for ten years!
I agree that there should be some heavy punishment for Penn State and its executives. But for the punishment to come from the NCAA, one has to ask, what jurisdiction does the NCAA have in this? What component of the NCAA charter says anything regarding criminal activity within a school's athletic programs. What if the criminal attacks never ocurred on Penn State property, would the NCAA step in on that situation? This article said that the bowl ban came from the Big Ten, shouldn't all of the punishment come from the Big Ten?
The NCAA has no jurisdiction over legal matters and they are not claiming to.
Six of one, half dozen of another. On campus or off, the coverup came from faculty and administrators, hence unlawful activity (or lack of activity). The sanctions are appropriate considering the degree of lawbreaking that went on here. Having knowledge of a crime equates to participating in the crime in most states. The NCAA is simply playing CYA by sanctioning the school, the program, and those involved before anyone else can accuse them of helping with the coverup (reference the Catholic Church and priest supervisors who are doing jail time for covering up their problems for decades).
PSU demonstrated a complete lack of Institutional Control, something that is within their jurisdiction. The top administrators of the University allowed the Football Program to be bigger than the University itself and allowed the football coach to become the most powerful person at the University. It seems that if the people writing the comments defending PSU truly loved the University they would be calling for a down grade of the football program to FCS levels and re-building their credibility and PSU's reputation, but I guess a couple of wins on Saturday and a trip to a Bowl game is worth much more than the academic and social reputation of a university not even to mention the horror that was inflicted on the children who were abused and lets not forget with one call any one of the 3 administrators and 1 coach could have prevented all the abuse that occurred after 1998. Not to mention that the entire Board of Trustees should be forced to resign based on the fact they were very happy not knowing anything. A weak administration in conjunction with a powerful and rich football program is a recipe for disaster and here the cost is immeasurable.
Jock - So what is the basis for the NCAA to enforce punishment if it has no jurisdiction?
Bob, CG - I did finally got a chance to check out the NCAA ruling and their reasoning, which is what I was looking for.
Yes, I graduated from Penn State and yes I think it's terrible... but please educate me? The Catholic Church priests and their leaders have molested hundreds of kids and the federal government is going to continue to pay them money for schools, hospitals, etc.... so can someone tell me the difference?
PSU is nowhere near as powerful as the Catholic Church.
God .. I wish I could close down the catholic church. They are more powerfull .. so I will have to work on it for the rest of my life.
That would be a fine life's work Eric, let me know if you need any help!
Is the school still open? Yes .. therefore not nearly enough has been done. Close this school down for good.
Oh here are by laws that NCAA USED
and
and
Oh by the Way maybe Human Dignity should have played a ROLE. But I agree with the sanctions if Penn State was a great program it should be able to recover. But time will tell if it was a great program or not. So everyone stop getting mad the Hammer has come there is nothing you can do but accept and help change a Culture that in my opinion was rotten to the core. Oh And I have that right to my Opinion.
Why do I believe this because Coach Paterno always preach this one line and i have heard it for over 30 Years.
"Don't be an Average man but be a better man"
I think he failed miserably at this
If only it were just hundreds of kids! While the government gives lip service to the "separation of church and state" there is no such thing. Religion still runs the government. What is printed on the U.S. currency? What is minted into the coins? What is the book used during all legal proceedings? Who do the politicians ask for guidance while swearing allegiance?
Hint: It isn't Santa, Easter Bunny, or Tooth Fairie (although I have seen more tangible results from those mythical entities).
Joe Paterno had 298 career wins, not bad...too bad he never reached 300, lol...
Why would anyone put up a statue of a coach who lost every single game for ten years in a row? A statue to ineptness??
Whoa, leroy brown, I rarely post but you seem to feel the need to share your every thought with the rest of us. Any chance you could spare us one or two of them?
Just shows how much a sport program can overtake basic function, close down the football program, how could they ever support something that helped a molester hide what their up to?
A few powerful men choose to turn a blind eye . At no time has anyone suggested students, players or supporters did that. Because we didn't
It's interesting to note that there is much greater sorrow on the campus over the sanctions than were generated by the crimes themselves. What absolute, self-absorbed trash these PSU fans are.
Many fans feel as if they are getting punished for Sandusky's actions and Paterno's acceptance of them. It doesn't necessarily mean you don't care about the victims if you think that the football games should not have been lost over this.
Thats not true. This article pertains to sanctions not victims of Sandusky. Clearly the alumni have spoken with record donations. Everyone this impacts is not guilty of child abuse.
Maybe, but they sure didn't hold any protests or candlelight vigils for the victims, did they?
Their sorrow for the victims has been not been evident. No protests over the crimes committed, no candlelight vigils for victims of abuse. Only impotent squeals of "unfair" over the loss of some lousy games.
The students most certainly did raise money for the victims. If anyone ever thought having a certain number of wins was more important than the safety and well being of children this is the result.
It looks like Joe Paterno ultimately did to the Penn State what his good buddy Sandusky did to those boys in the showers.
There simply has got to be a reason other than friendship that kept Joe's mouth shut over such horrific and inhuman crimes, especially in light of the potential damage to the program. Is it possible that Sandusky had information about Joe himself that would have destroyed the program if he went to the police, or stopped aiding him?
Hmmmm, what could possibly be so bad that you could be coerced into silence over the rape of children?
Perhaps it wasn't the program that Paterno was protecting at all.