Hitting the BoT at PSU where it HURTS

New from Walt Uhler - Read and Link Hitting Penn State’s Board of Trustees Where it Hurts

Judging by the tens of thousands of individuals who have read my articles, as well as the tens of thousands who have turned to http://framingpaterno.com , http://www.notpsu.blogspot.com andhttp://www.tominpaine.blogspot.com as well as numerous Penn State chat boards, one could hope that the groundwork was being prepared to launch an “Arab Spring” uprising against the Penn State’s Board of Trustees.

Evidence of such a spontaneous uprising took a pleasantly surprising turn yesterday when it was announced that “A Rally for Resignations” will be held on the Old Main lawn, starting at 10:00 AM on September 15, 2012. Penn State students and alumni have been invited to participate and Penn State football legend, Franco Harris, will be the main speaker. Participants at the rally will demand the resignations of Governor Corbett, President Rodney Erickson and most members of the Board of Trustees.

The announcement was pleasantly surprising because it caught many of us – who were engaged in our own email exchanges devoted to plans to effect the peaceful overthrow of the Board of Trustees – by surprise. It also was pleasantly surprising, because that planned protest indicates that many more people are “pissed off” (as a few T-shirts put it at last Saturday’s football game) about the ways in which the mainstream news media and the Board of Trustees irresponsibly swallowed the lies in the grand jury report and the Freeh Report in the course of misreporting and mishandling the Sandusky scandal.

As luck would have it, the very morning after learning about the “Rally for Resignations” – in fact, this morning – I received an email from Mr. Michael Degenhart, the Executive Director of the Office of Gift Planning at Penn State. As he has at least once a year for the past few years, Mr. Degenhart reminded me again of the many ways I might give a gift to Penn State.

In years past, I have responded to such reminders by contributing a modest $200 to the Penn State libraries. I also had plans to bequeath a substantially larger amount upon my death. But, no more. Below is the email I sent to Mr. Degenhart this morning.

Dear Sir:

For many years now, I have been planning to give a large gift to Penn State upon my death. But, no longer. Not after the unjust, shabby and cowardly firing of Joe Paterno by the Board of Trustees. And not after the BOT decided to accept the extremely flawed and slanderous Freeh Report. In effect, the BOT accepted allegations of a cover up without actual evidence of a cover up. Would truly accomplished people accept such nonsense? No, only scoundrels or cowards.

The former chairmen of the faculty senate got it right when it [sic] blasted the Freeh Report, but I’ve seen no evidence that the BOT is listening to them

Thus, you all can plan to move on, but I’m not moving on. And not a dime from my estate to Penn State until Joe Paterno receives due process and justice.

Sincerely, Walter C. Uhler

Now, I’ve never planned to give Penn State more than a $100,000, probably not more than $50,000. But if thousands of irate Penn State alums can threaten to deprive Penn State of similarly modest sums, then we might be able to hit the Board of Trustees where it hurts.

Thus, I urge concerned alums who like my approach to send an email to  giftplanning@psu.edu . Let Mr. Degenhart know what Penn State stands to lose.