Monday, January 12

PS4RS: Media Statement on NCAA Settlement Proposal



"Today, we learned that the very trustees who voted against opposing the NCAA Consent Decree have now secretly penned an agreement with the NCAA that would supersede the original document. In excluding their fellow trustees from this discussion, the trustees behind this new agreement are flouting the recommendations of the Freeh Report that they so strongly supported. Penn Staters for Responsible Stewardship urges Sen. Corman, Mr. McCord and Judge Covey to reject this last-ditch, face-saving effort by the trustees whose errors have been so costly to Penn State. Our 40,000 members want to shine the court's spotlight into the dark corners of the original Consent Decree and hold accountable those who fraudulently scapegoated the entire Penn State community for the criminal actions of one man. Penn Staters for Responsible Stewardship wholeheartedly supports the nine alumni-elected trustees who have been fighting for more than three years to defend Penn State and its honor."

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Trustees ask Chairman Masser for information on proposed "settlement" with NCAA.
Penn State Trustees Request Information
January 12, 2015— In a letter sent today to Penn State Board of a Trustees Chairman Keith Masser, Penn State Trustees Albert L. Lord and Anthony P. Lubrano have requested information pertaining to a settlement proposal made by Penn State to the NCAA.

"We have learned that Penn State has made a proposal to the NCAA,” said Lubrano. “Unfortunately, my efforts to confirm this with Chair Masser have been unsuccessful thus far.”

Presently, Penn State is a defendant in the matter of Corman/McCord v. the NCAA.

Added Lord, "Chairman Masser’s unwillingness to communicate with us on this vitally important matter leaves us no choice but to make such a formal request."

Emails and deposition transcripts released as part of a lawsuit against the governing body of college sports suggest that some NCAA officials questioned their own jurisdiction to sanction Penn State, calling it "a stretch," and expected Penn State to accept the punishment out of embarrassment.

Both Trustees were elected by the alumni: Lubrano in 2012, and Lord in 2014



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Penn Staters For Responsible Stewardship
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6 comments:

  1. Masser is a coward....Time to face the music....

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  2. I have been saying for months the NCAA would try to reach a settlement to prevent a court loss, as is their habit. I hope Corman will be steadfast and not settle so the dirty laundry the NCAA and Trustees want kept secret comes out in court.

    Even if they settle the Corman lawsuit, the Paterno family lawsuit remains. I doubt the Paterno plaintiffs would settle for anything less than a very public retraction of the negative Consent Decree charges against Paterno and others on the football team staff. The Paterno plaintiffs will probably also want millions in damages, which the NCAA can keep secret with a confidentiality agreement.

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  3. It looks like the trustees PS4RS helped elect all voted for "this last-ditch, face-saving effort by the trustees whose errors have been so costly to Penn State."

    I guess the NCAA bluffed Penn State again.

    I hope Judge Covey rejects the settlement unless the fine and the Athletics Integrity Monitor are also eliminated. I also don't see how Judge Covey could endorse the statement about the "NCAA’s legitimate and good faith interest and concern regarding the Jerry Sandusky matter."

    NCAA emails showed they were bluffing (not good faith), their Exec. Committee chairman never read the Freeh Report or the Consent Decree (not good faith) and their concern was good PR for the NCAA, not concern for the Sandusky victims.

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    Replies
    1. Tim,
      Though I hoped Corman would press to get the NCAA into court to defend the Consent Decree, the bottom line is that its repeal is an admission that the penalties were unjust and that the Freeh Report was incorrect.

      I haven't talked to any of the alumni-elected trustees, but I suspect that they took the pragmatic approach yesterday and took a "win" of a battle in a bigger war.

      The NCAA and the University presidents who sat on the Executive Committee will have to face the music in the Paterno lawsuit. All of the evidence you cited will be used to show that the NCAA didn't act in good faith.

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  4. Ray - It's up to the judge at this point whether to accept the settlement.

    I think the alumni-elected trustees got bluffed. NCAA.org is claiming the NCAA settled to stop further delay in distributing the "fine." The voiding of the Consent Decree was an obvious bluff when two of the most onerous sanctions remain.

    The NCAA statement is still talking about "Penn State’s role in enabling child sexual abuse to occur on campus." If the Consent Decree was voided, the NCAA should stop saying Penn State was guilty when that hasn't been established in court.

    If the Trustees were on the ball, they would have required crafting of a joint public statement and forbade any party from deviating from that statement.

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    Replies
    1. Agree that the NCAA shouldn't have said what they said about PSU, nor should they have been permitted to make the disingenuous statements about the funds (that they went to court over) going to children.

      This hypocritical nonsense and George Mitchell's fraudulent monitoring has to stop.

      That's why the settlement agreement falls far short of what is required to set the record straight.

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