Saturday April 11, 2014, In an article on State College dot com, Joel Myers is credited with the following remarks:
Joel Myers says Graham Spanier had too much authority at Penn State.
"Here we had a situation where the board had to act over a couple of days and it became obvious Graham Spanier hadn't kept the board informed," Myers says. "Graham Spanier had a lot of authority, he had in retrospect far too much. ... Obviously he didn't keep the board informed with things they should know about."
In response, Lubrano challenged Myers, saying the board should be held responsible for allowing Paterno and Spanier to have too much power. Myers argued the board took responsibility with its actions to remove Paterno and Spanier as well as moves to reform the communication and organizational models of the board and administration."These remarks come along with his justification for the firing of Joe Paterno -- a subject this website has covered in copious detail. Everything that we need to know about Joe's correct and appropriate action has been discussed in great detail repeatedly. We have been remiss in not considering Graham Spanier's role in what happened at Penn State.
It is our contention that, had the Board followed Dr. Spanier's lead, Penn State would be in a far better position today -- morally, ethically, and financially. Dr. Spanier did two things about which we are certain: 1) He told John Surma that firing Joe Paterno would be a terrible mistake; and 2) He publicly announced his full support of AD Tim Curley and VP Gary Schultz.
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| Graham Spanier with Joe Paterno |
Despite knowing the personal risk Spanier did the right thing - and the BOT fired him for it while Corbett's AG indicted him.
2 1/2 years later, those comments appear to have been absolutely appropriate.
By contrast, the Board (including Joel Myers) acted in a panic, driven by a media tsunami that was set off by the lies contained in then-Attorney General Linda Kelly's Presentment. The Presentment contained the fabrication that Mike McQueary saw a boy "being subjected to anal intercourse" and told Joe Paterno, Tim Curley and Gary Schultz exactly that. The Board reacted based on those lies and that media pressure. When the Trustees fired Joe and Graham, they sent a message to the world that the Penn State Board believed these key employees to be guilty. That act signaled the world,that the Trustees accepted liability on behalf of the University for the crimes of Jerry Sandusky -- a man who had not been employed by PSU for 11 years.
By contrast, the Board (including Joel Myers) acted in a panic, driven by a media tsunami that was set off by the lies contained in then-Attorney General Linda Kelly's Presentment. The Presentment contained the fabrication that Mike McQueary saw a boy "being subjected to anal intercourse" and told Joe Paterno, Tim Curley and Gary Schultz exactly that. The Board reacted based on those lies and that media pressure. When the Trustees fired Joe and Graham, they sent a message to the world that the Penn State Board believed these key employees to be guilty. That act signaled the world,that the Trustees accepted liability on behalf of the University for the crimes of Jerry Sandusky -- a man who had not been employed by PSU for 11 years.
Ray Blehar 
John 
