This is the introduction to a multi-part opinion/analysis series
that will highlight some interesting information about current and former
members of the Penn State University Board of Trustees. First up, Ira
Lubert.
by BHF23
Introduction
A recent post on the Rivals BWI McAndrew Board described Penn
State’s leaders as “feckless.” I had to look it up. First thing I found was
“lacking in feck.” For real…which
I thought sounded pretty cool, actually. Don’t know if I ever had
any “feck” myself, for that matter. But I digress…
From merriam-webster.com. feckless
(adj.): 1. weak, ineffective; 2. worthless, irresponsible.
While there have been many adjectives used to describe the trustees responsible for the damage that resulted in the aftermath of the Sandusky scandal, I decided to see if some of them met the definition.
Exhibit 1:
Ira Lubert
Let’s take a quick inventory on Trustee Ira Lubert...
Was on the BOT at the time of the 1998 incident.
Contributed $50,000 or more to The Second Mile (TSM) for year
ending August 31, 2001.
Served on TSM’s Southeastern Board of Directors from 2005-2008,
leaving as part of a mass exodus from TSM’s Board about the time the Aaron
Fisher investigation began.
Allowed TSM to use his Green Hills facility in Reading for TSM
Summer Challenges (camps) until 2008.
Was in charge of the Sandusky scandal related settlements.
A subcommittee was formed 10/28/12, including Lubert, Frazier, Eckel, and
others. Recent court filings revealed that the claims were not considered
valid or invalid. In
other words, money paid out without vetting the claims.
Feckless (irresponsible)? Yes.
The icing on the cake of the settlement fiasco was that
claimants were prohibited from suing Lubert's former charity -- TSM.
It is highly probable that with TSM nearing bankruptcy from the scandal that lawsuits may have been filed against its directors or former directors. Perhaps Lubert was looking out for himself by putting that provision in the settlements -- especially in light of what apparently was going down when TSM used Green Hills.
It is highly probable that with TSM nearing bankruptcy from the scandal that lawsuits may have been filed against its directors or former directors. Perhaps Lubert was looking out for himself by putting that provision in the settlements -- especially in light of what apparently was going down when TSM used Green Hills.
TSM at Lubert's Green Hills Camp
After the Sandusky scandal broke a few media outlets wrote
articles about the TSM camp at Greenhills.
“Rob Lehr, a former camp operator, is speaking out about what he
saw and heard. He rented the camp to the group for a four-week period
annually. The camp has now been sold and Second Mile no longer uses the
facility. Lehr is the former director of a camp in the deep woods of
Berks County, where children from the Second Mile would come each summer for several
years.” (foxphilly.com, 11/14/11)
“Lehr said the group crossed dressed one year, and another year
had the kids cross dressing: “Camp counselors cross dressing for one of
the evening events with children. The following year now they [had] some
of the boys cross dressing,” he says. Lehr also said shower curtains
would be taken down when Second Mile was at the camp. He said he never
saw anything illegal, but did see things that were immoral and questionable.” (crossingbroad.com, 11/16/11)
”Lehr has not
been interviewed by state investigators on
the Sandusky case, but he says if asked he would cooperate.”
( foxphilly.com, 11/14/11 and here)
Never interviewed.
Imagine that!
Also, the video of Lehr's interview was nowhere to be found on the internet.
Imagine that!
Getting to the
Bottom of It
When I read the Freeh Report, I smelled a rat and posted on a
Penn State message board to see if anyone wanted to help get to the bottom of
it. I live in Georgia. Work for a bank. No connections. Knew precisely jack
squat. Almost immediately, I was told that the real story was at TSM.
I’m no investigator. I’m lucky to remember to put my socks on
before my shoes in the morning. Five days it took. Working on it maybe two or
three hours a day to start making the connections.
And no one on the BOT nor Louis Freeh apparently heard anything
untoward going on at TSM.
Imagine that?
Tom Corbett…with two stints as OAG (starting in 1995, by the
way), responsible for oversight of TSM, buddies with Bob Poole and Bruce
Heim…never heard anything.
Imagine that?
Louie Freeh…having investigated organized crime in the immediate
vicinity of Pennsylvania, buddies with Ric Struthers…never heard
anything.
Maybe it’s true; maybe it’s not.
But there’s no way the state OAG didn’t hear it.
And there is no possible way that any honest investigation into this mess doesn’t lead pretty quickly to the front door of TSM.
And that brings us back to former TSM board member, Ira Lubert.
· Lubert
was the top gaming industry contributor ($456,000) to political candidates from
2001-2008. Ed Rendell, who as governor appointed Lubert to the BOT
in 2007, was the top receiver (over $1 million) over that same time span (postgazette.com,
6/24/09).
The Sandusky investigation started when Rendell was
governor.
In the spring of 2009 -- as the case moved from Centre County to the OAG's office, the PSU BOT began making moves to hire its first in-house counsel. It's not a reach to believe that Lubert was tipped by Rendell and was among the first people at PSU to know about the investigation -- and likely pulled the strings for the hiring of "feckless" Cynthia Baldwin.
Going back to my investigation.
Within exactly five
days of starting it, I
“learned” (to use John Morganelli’s word) that Sandusky situation was part of a
wider pedophile ring and that Louis Freeh was hired to cover that up.
Who is the one PSU BOT member who was/is most likely to have
that kind of knowledge (or heard those rumors) about TSM?
Ira Lubert.
Lubert was on the "move forward" bandwagon --
advocating for it so the OAG investigation would start and stop with the
PSU football program and Paterno. The BOT tried to sell "moving
foward" to the PSU community by claiming to save football from the wrath of the Big Bad NCAA.
Most PSU alums didn't buy it and demanded to know more about how
TSM escaped the scandal without criminal charges.
And what was the harm in calling for more investigation?
In most people's minds, it could actually clear PSU and put
responsibility for Sandusky where it belonged.
After a thorough review, if nothing was found, burn all those innocuous TSM documents and have a weenie roast.
Knock yourselves out.
But if you’re wrong…or worse yet, were found to be intentionally
covering up that there's even one more “Sandusky” connected to
the rat’s nest that is TSM (and I’d bet my last nickel there are plenty), it
will be reasonable to conclude that the OG BOT:
-- trashed our university,
-- printed endless stacks of cash for anyone who could spell
“PSU,”
-- and labeled every one of us as football crazed, JoePa loving
pedophile enablers...
.. all to cover-up that they’re directly involved or somehow beholden to the people who are.