STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Penn State trustees, faced with continued alumni and student criticism for firing football coach Joe Paterno, on Monday released a statement intended to underscore their rationale for his ouster: “failure of leadership” for his actions following a reported sex assault involving former assistant Jerry Sandusky.
The board found that while Paterno fulfilled a legal obligation to tell his superiors that an employee claimed Sandusky abused a young boy in a shower, it said Paterno should have done more.
“We determined that his decision to do his minimum legal duty and not to do more to follow up constituted a failure of leadership by Coach Paterno,” the trustees wrote.
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Rob Christy/US PresswirePenn State’s board of trustees said Joe Paterno should have done more after learning of allegations against Jerry Sandusky.
The trustees report comes after months of criticism from Penn State alumni over Paterno’s firing in November. The Hall of Fame coach died in January after a brief bout with lung cancer.
In their statement, the trustees said they had been asked by the Penn State community to “state clearly” the reasons for Paterno’s dismissal and the removal of the university president.
The board had previously offered its rationale for removing Paterno and university president Graham Spanier. But Trustee Keith Eckel said Monday the board decided to issue another statement now because alumni had continued to ask questions.
“Many people have indicated that they did not understand, and this is our last attempt to try to make it as clear as possible,” Eckel told The Associated Press. “And people are welcome to agree or disagree with us.”
Sandusky is accused of sexually abusing 10 boys over a 15-year span. He has denied the allegations.
Then-graduate assistant Mike McQueary’s claim that he saw Sandusky sexually abusing a young boy inside a football building on the university campus is one of 10 such allegations brought by the state attorney general’s office.
The first round of charges against Sandusky was filed Nov. 5, four days before Paterno was fired and Spanier was forced to resign.
The board also apologized for the decision to fire Paterno by phone late that night — a decision that drew the ire of many of the coach’s supporters.
“We saw no better alternative,” the trustees wrote. “Because Coach Paterno’s home was surrounded by media representatives, photographers and others, we did not believe there was a dignified, private and secure way to send Board representatives to meet with him there.”
The trustees said they planned to apologize to Paterno for the way he was being dismissed but the coach ended the call before the message could be delivered.
Phone messages left for Spanier and the Paterno family were not immediately returned.
The board also said it decided not to wait until the next morning, saying it feared leaks would have Paterno learning his fate before an official announcement. The coach missed the team’s final three regular season games.
Bitterness over Paterno’s removal has turned up in many forms, from online postings to a note placed next to Paterno’s statue at the football stadium blaming the trustees for his death. A newspaper headline that read “FIRED” was crossed out and made to read, “Killed by Trustees.”
The trustees said they had intended to name Paterno head coach emeritus in honor of his contributions to the university. The board said additional options are under review but no decisions will be reached until after independent counsel and former FBI director Louis Freeh issues a final report on a special investigation into the school’s handling of the allegations.
The board said the removal of Spanier was also a result of a “failure of leadership” that included insufficiently informing the board of his knowledge of the 2002 allegation. Spanier also made public statements that were not authorized or contrary to the board’s instructions, the trustees said.
In one statement following the charges against Sandusky, Spanier expressed his “complete confidence” in a pair of university administrators, athletic director Tim Curley and senior vice president Gary Schultz, who were charged with perjury and failure to report suspected abuse.
Spanier requested a vote of confidence from the board on Nov. 9 but was fired that night.
Curley is on administrative leave and Schultz retired after being charged. Both maintain their innocence.
