PENN STATERS FOR RESPONSIBLE STEWARDSHIP SAYS ELECTION RESULTS SEND CLEAR MESSAGE THAT ALUMNI ARE ENGAGED, COMMITTED, UNITED
May 8, 2015 ---- The membership of Penn Staters for Responsible Stewardship congratulates Anthony Lubrano, Ryan McCombie and Robert Tribeck on being elected by the university's alumni to serve as Penn State trustees. PS4RS endorsed all three alumni-elected trustees, who will serve three-year terms that begin on July 1, 2015.
“This is the fourth year in a row that alumni have voted in record numbers, which demonstrates the strong alumni interest in participating in Penn State governance,” said PS4RS spokeswoman Maribeth Roman Schmidt. “This is a remarkable turnout, especially in light of the university's lack of effort to notify alumni about the election and the obstacles encountered by alumni who sought to obtain ballots. This election sends a clear message that alumni voters are more engaged, committed, and united than ever before. We are unified in our support of the efforts being made by the alumni-elected trustees to move toward greater transparency at Penn State.”
Schmidt also highlighted the strengths that Tribeck, a new trustee, will bring to the board as he takes as seat alongside the eight other alumni-elected trustees, all of whom were also endorsed by the organization. “Rob is extremely knowledgeable, principled and tenacious,” Schmidt said. “We are confident that he will be fully engaged from day one. Rob is perfectly positioned to provide a legal perspective in our fight for the repudiation of the board's ill-conceived Freeh Report, which has caused extensive financial and reputational damage to the university. In fact, Rob was the principle architect of the PS4RS Freeh Report Analysis, the first review that detailed the flaws of Louis Freeh’s $8+ million ‘independent investigation,’ which is now under intense scrutiny.
“Since the alumni community is such a large, engaged and important stakeholder category for the university, President Barron's recent comments directed at the alumni-elected trustees are particularly worrisome,” continued Schmidt. “While we agree with Dr. Barron that there are many positive Penn State stories to be told, we do not agree that pushing aside important issues of transparency at this critical juncture in Penn State’s history is helpful to anyone – especially when that transparency was promised by the chairman of the board in the wake of the Sandusky allegations. We will not allow our university to continue to be governed behind a veil of secrecy. We will not allow a small cabal of trustees to put their personal interests above the University's. And we not will allow our alumni-elected trustees to be treated as second-class citizens on the board. Indeed, it is the alumni trustees who are seeking to perform the very same oversight duties that Freeh ironically chastised trustees Masser, Dambly, Silvis, Eckel, Huber, Shaffer, Frazier, and Lubert for failing to perform in 2011 and earlier. We call on Dr. Barron to treat the alumni-elected trustees with the civility and respect they deserve as his superiors in the Penn State governance hierarchy.”
Schmidt added that the 2015 alumni-trustee election sends a clear message, not just to Old Main, but to Harrisburg as well. “Legislators like Senator John Yudichak (D) and more than 30 of his colleagues who have co-sponsored a soon-to-be introduced senate bill to enact governance reform at Penn State recognize the appalling conduct of a board that has operated in secrecy,” she explained. “We look forward to supporting them and other legislators throughout the state who are willing to work for transparent governance at Penn State.”
Penn Staters for Responsible Stewardship, with more than 40,000 members nationwide, was formed to promote positive change within the University Board of Trustees, demanding transparent, trustworthy leadership. For further information on PS4RS, please visitwww.PS4RS.org, email ps4rsinfo@ps4rs.org, or go tohttp://www.facebook.com/PS4RS. Follow PS4RS on Twitter at @PS4RS.
The LAST person with whom Ken Frazier would want to share the table: “Rob is extremely knowledgeable, principled and tenacious,” Schmidt. What perfect timing for Frazier to be leaving the Board!
ReplyDeletePres Barron should be required by "his superiors", i.e., Alumni Trustees, to specifically discuss with them his earlier public statement that the Freeh Report was inadequate as a decision-making tool.
Fight on folks. YOU are Penn State.