Saturday, January 17

Penn State, Barron, and Masser Statements on NCAA Settlement



My emphasis added
January 16, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – By a unanimous vote, the Penn State Board of Trustees today (Jan. 16) approved the terms of a proposed settlement of the lawsuit relating to the Endowment Act. According to the settlement, the July 2012 Consent Decree between Penn State and the NCAA has been dissolved, and all punitive sanctions eliminated.
Under the terms of the new agreement:
  • $60 million will be dedicated in Pennsylvania to helping children who have experienced child abuse and to further prevent child abuse. Of the $60 million, the Commonwealth will receive $48 million to help provide services to child victims.  Penn State will use $12 million to create an endowment that will be a long-term investment in expanding our research, education and public service programs to help eradicate child sexual abuse.  All parties agree strongly that caring for victims and providing support for programs that help address the problem of child sexual abuse is of paramount importance.
  • The compromise restores 112 wins to the Penn State football program.
  • All other punitive sanctions also have been eliminated.
Penn State President Eric Barron and Penn State Board of Trustees Chairman Keith Masser have released statements on the matter:

Statement by President Eric Barron:

"Penn State is pleased that state Sen. Jake Corman, state Treasurer Robert McCord and the NCAA have agreed to a settlement of the lawsuit relating to the Endowment Act. According to the settlement, the University and the NCAA will enter into a new agreement that supersedes and dissolves the Consent Decree.  We thank the parties for their efforts on this difficult issue. The settlement has several important elements.
“Sixty million dollars will be dedicated in Pennsylvania to helping children who have experienced child abuse and to further prevent child abuse. Of the $60 million, the Commonwealth will receive $48 million to help provide services to child victims.  Penn State will use $12 million to create an endowment that will be a long term investment in expanding our research, education and public service programs to help eradicate child sexual abuse.  All parties agree strongly that caring for victims and providing support for programs that help address the problem of child sexual abuse is of paramount importance.
“The compromise restores 112 wins to our football program.  I know that all Penn State alumni will be gratified to see these 112 wins restored. These wins belong to the student-athletes, Coach Paterno and his staff, who represented Penn State both in the classroom and on the football field. All other punitive sanctions also have been eliminated.
“The compromise also recognizes the fact that the NCAA, as well as the Big Ten — which is a party to the Athletics Integrity Agreement, had a legitimate interest and concern about the Jerry Sandusky matter.  Based on the overarching principles that govern both membership organizations (including the institutional control of athletics) and conversations with my fellow presidents that make up the governance of the NCAA and the Big Ten, I am convinced that they acted in good faith. I believe that the NCAA leadership had a good faith concern about and desire to address the issue of institutional control in this case.
“Penn State will continue our dedication to compliance and ethics that sets a national standard for athletics integrity as outlined in the Athletics Integrity Agreement.
“I want to thank Sen. Corman, Treasurer McCord, and the NCAA for their efforts to bring about an outcome that is in the best interest of Penn State.  I also want to thank the hard-working students, staff and faculty at Penn State who have ensured the highest level of compliance and ethics.  Finally, I want to make it clear that we have a tremendous alumni community that cares a great deal for Penn State. It is my hope that this agreement will continue the healing process for all.”

Statement from Board Chairman Keith Masser:

“I'm pleased all parties have reached an agreement, and I would like to thank Sen. Jake Corman and Treasurer Robert McCord for their efforts. Sen. Corman has been a tireless advocate for the Penn State community for many years, and his leadership has helped our University in tremendous ways.
“This agreement is good for Pennsylvania and the University. It will keep $60 million here in Pennsylvania for the fight against child sexual abuse, and it restores all football wins from 1998-2011.
“I am proud the University went beyond the requirements of the consent decree in the interest of the safety of children and students on our campuses, and to ensure proper oversight of University personnel. Those efforts twice led to the unprecedented rollback of sanctions.
“Penn Staters show every day that we are a compassionate community that remains dedicated to the service of our students and communities.”

http://news.psu.edu/story/341060/2015/01/16/board-trustees/board-trustees-approves-terms-proposed-ncaa-lawsuit

5 comments:

  1. I find Masser's comments about child protection and the roll back of sanctions to be self-serving and hypocritical.

    The Board, with the assistance of Louis Freeh, assisted in theformer Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office in covering up the failures of the Commonwealth's child protection system. The steps taken by PSU to allegedly protect children would do absolutely nothing to prevent another Sandusky situation for occurring on the campus. In fact, Policy AD73, which restricts ID card holders to just one guest when using campus recreational facilities, provides for the very situation that allowed Sandusky to perpetrate his crimes on campus and elsewhere.

    The roll-back of the sanctions was not based on improvements made by the Board of Trustees, contrary to the phony reports by former Senator George Mitchell. Each case of roll-backs came when the NCAA was facing (or about to face) bad publicity. In short, the roll-backs were used to deflect attention away from the NCAA.

    While yesterday's restoration of wins and dissolving of the Consent Decree was another battle won in the fight for the truth, the war is far from over.

    We will fight on.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ray,

    Thank you for your comments here and your continued work on getting at the truth. Though I’m pleased that part of the consent decree has been revoked I’ll have to wait to hear the various “spins”. And I have to wonder about the $60 million donation to helping fix Pennsylvania’s child protective services. Is it a fine for some Penn State wrongdoing or a donation? Frankly I have little faith that put in the hands of failed administrators it will do much good.

    As an aside, I see a major windfall for Pennsylvania’s Orthopedic Surgeons coming when they have to repair the injuries from all the “self back patting” by the legislature and trustees for their alleged accomplishments!

    Keep up the fight for the truth!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I hope the judge sees through this smokescreen and rejects this settlement. It is farce to say they void the Consent Decree but then retain two on the most onerous sanctions, the $60 million fine and the costly and unneeded Athletic Integrity Monitor. If I was the judge, I would take offense that the parties were blatantly usurping my authority to determine if those two sanctions were legal.

    The NCAA.org statement confirms the settlement is a scam regarding the $60 million fine.

    “Continuing this litigation would further delay the distribution of funds to child sexual abuse survivors for years, undermining the very intent of the fine,” said Harris Pastides, University of South Carolina president and member of the NCAA Board of Governors. “While others will focus on the return of wins, our top priority is on protecting, educating and nurturing young people.”

    What a crock about children being the top priority to the NCAA. They could have allowed the $60 million to remain in PA years ago and avoided Corman's lawsuit entirely.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Again, sorry for not keeping completely up. Three questions, please.

    1. Where/who does this $60 million come from? It's part of a settlement of a lawsuit, NOT a result of the Consent Decree, right? Because the same settlement included a negation of the CD.

    2. The settlement of this lawsuit also established a new agreement between PSU and the NCAA. Why is there a new agreement? I thought the case was strong that the NCAA is acting i) prematurely (no trial yet); ii) without evidence (Freeh Report does not prove its case); and iii) outside its jurisdiction (acknowledged by NCAA itself).

    3. What exactly is in this new agreement, who specifically negotiated and settled on its details, and did these individuals have the legal authority to consent to it? I.e., Is there now ANOTHER questionable Consent Decree/Agreement between PSU and the NCAA, one that "supercedes" the one just negated???






    of the CD.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Regarding President Barron's statement here...

    He's confident, based on NCAA and Big Ten principles plus conversations with other university presidents, that the NCAA acted in good faith. What the hell does this mean?? And who cares??

    A decision to do huge damage was made prematurely, without evidence, AND outside jurisdiction. Then this decision was deceptively crammed down onto an entity already in crisis. I believe in football culture this is called "piling on". And it may even result in a penalty for the side who unfairly inflicts excessive hurt.

    Also, I assume President Barron hasn't finished reading the Freeh Report. How can he presume to make ANY statement in support or justification of the NCAA's actions in this mess without, in the very damn least, reading THE single document on which all this was based. Where's Barron's basic intellectual curiosity, academic training, and sense of professional responsibility??? I read the entire Freeh Report within a few days of its release!! (My immediate reaction was "Huh??", there are no arguments here, only proclamations!)

    ReplyDelete