Penn State culture not changed at all

[Moranis]

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/8199905/penn-state-nittany-lions-rodney-erickson-said-school-faced-4-year-death-penalty

some key parts

The discussions were so secretive that most members of Penn State's embattled Board of Trustees had no idea they were happening, several trustees said.

Indeed, the trustees had thought Erickson was officially responding to a Nov. 17 letter of questions from the NCAA. In the interview on Wednesday, Erickson said the letter was set aside last week as the discussions between Penn State and the NCAA intensified.

Several trustees said they are furious the board was not given a chance to vote on the agreement, which they say is bad for Penn State. But after meeting Wednesday night, the board said it understands Erickson's decision.

In other words, the sanctions were handed down in a large part to destroy the culture created by football and to ensure things like what happened don't happen again.  However, that is exactly what happened as the President of Penn State hid things from the Board of Trustees to protect Penn State's football program.  Erickson may have gotten it right this time, but what about the next time he hides something from the Board of Trustees and who knows what else has been hidden from the Board of Trustees.  Slippery slope Penn State, slippery slope.

[Eja117]

PSU just doesn't get it. I think other big schools might not either, but PSU is the worst example right now.

It won't change overnight

[Moranis]

PSU just doesn't get it. I think other big schools might not either, but PSU is the worst example right now.

It won't change overnight

I understand it won't change overnight, but for the President of the University to agree to such harsh and far reaching sanctions without even mentioning it to the Board of Trustees is sickening, especially given the past indiscretions of those that used to be in power at the school.

If I'm on the Board of Trustees at Penn State I'm pushing for Erickson's immediate firing.  You want a culture change, you have to let people know you are serious.

[celticsclay]

PSU just doesn't get it. I think other big schools might not either, but PSU is the worst example right now.

It won't change overnight

I understand it won't change overnight, but for the President of the University to agree to such harsh and far reaching sanctions without even mentioning it to the Board of Trustees is sickening, especially given the past indiscretions of those that used to be in power at the school.

If I'm on the Board of Trustees at Penn State I'm pushing for Erickson's immediate firing.  You want a culture change, you have to let people know you are serious.

I got to say people at Penn State probably can't win no matter what they do. If it was announced that they they were having lengthy internal discussion by board members about accepting the penalty people would say they were not owning up and accepting the horrible things that happened at the university. If they did it very swiftly people say they have not included enough people and thought things through. I think Bill O'Brian and the staff there are trying to do things the best they can and some of the people on the board of trustee will be resigning int he coming months. Maybe a break from hammering them for a while...

[ChampKind]

I got the impression from that article that the NCAA played a role in the Board of Regents being left out of the discussion. Clearly they were okay with just dealing with Erickson, so they have a role in some of this.

Still, disappointing of Erickson to cowboy up like that in the face of such a big decision. I wonder if the NCAA promised a better deal if the discussions were kept secret - which would imply worse things about the NCAA than we had probably thought.

[Fafnir]

Yeah I agree with you. For the president to not bring this before the trustees of the university was shockingly dumb.

[mctyson]

Disagree.  The Board would have wanted to appeal the sanctions.  This is not a question of the President doing this secretly so the Board doesn't find out, it is the President being told by the NCAA "you either accept these sanctions, or its gonna get a whole lot worse." 

[Fafnir]

Disagree.  The Board would have wanted to appeal the sanctions.  This is not a question of the President doing this secretly so the Board doesn't find out, it is the President being told by the NCAA "you either accept these sanctions, or its gonna get a whole lot worse." 

If he's willing to hold secret negotiations without board input, bind the school, and only after the fact tell the trustees what makes you think he'll consult them for anything in the future.

[Eja117]

PSU just doesn't get it. I think other big schools might not either, but PSU is the worst example right now.

It won't change overnight

I understand it won't change overnight, but for the President of the University to agree to such harsh and far reaching sanctions without even mentioning it to the Board of Trustees is sickening, especially given the past indiscretions of those that used to be in power at the school.

If I'm on the Board of Trustees at Penn State I'm pushing for Erickson's immediate firing.  You want a culture change, you have to let people know you are serious.

I see what you're saying but him not accepting these penalties would have been like Japan not accepting surrender after blowing up Hiroshima.
Erickson is doing far far better than the Trustees ever did. They need to go.  They failed horrifically before and don't deserve another chance now.
It was well well known at PSU and beyond that Sandusky was having problems along these lines months, if not longer, before this story broke. The trustees are a joke and Erickson is trying to pick up the pieces. He probably realizes the board is incredibly impotent and as backwards as possible.

[Moranis]

Disagree.  The Board would have wanted to appeal the sanctions.  This is not a question of the President doing this secretly so the Board doesn't find out, it is the President being told by the NCAA "you either accept these sanctions, or its gonna get a whole lot worse." 

If he's willing to hold secret negotiations without board input, bind the school, and only after the fact tell the trustees what makes you think he'll consult them for anything in the future.

See that is my issue with this as well.  The President should never be making decisions of this magnitude without input from the Board of Trustees.  Especially when the sanctions are being brought in a large part because of things being kept from the board and covered up by the person previously in his position.

Also, from what I've seen the Board of Trustees would have accepted the penalties to avoid the death penalty, but they might have been able to negotiate even more or get more concessions.  They also would have then been included in the process. 

[saltlover]

I don't see how these equate at all.  In one case, the (now-former) President helped engage in a campaign of secrecy because he wanted to cover the school's backside.  In the other case, the President makes a very public decision, choosing what he feels is the best of two options, because that's his job in running the school.  It's not like he agreed to something that was designed for the Trustee's to never find out about -- they were going to learn it the next morning.

[Fafnir]

I don't see how these equate at all.  In one case, the (now-former) President helped engage in a campaign of secrecy because he wanted to cover the school's backside.  In the other case, the President makes a very public decision, choosing what he feels is the best of two options, because that's his job in running the school.  It's not like he agreed to something that was designed for the Trustee's to never find out about -- they were going to learn it the next morning.

Its about oversight.

He's shown that he's not willing to let the board exercise it, just like Spanier. Maybe you're right and the board is full of Joe Pa worshiping rubes who can't be trusted to make the right decision. But they're supposed to be his bosses and the president deciding "what's best for Penn St" was a huge part of the problem.

They may have found out about the decision, but given the public nature and the signed document given to the NCAA it was fait acompli, they had no chance to exercise their oversight role.

[illestmcsgt]

PSU just doesn't get it. I think other big schools might not either, but PSU is the worst example right now.

It won't change overnight

What is it that we don't get?

[Moranis]

I don't see how these equate at all.  In one case, the (now-former) President helped engage in a campaign of secrecy because he wanted to cover the school's backside.  In the other case, the President makes a very public decision, choosing what he feels is the best of two options, because that's his job in running the school.  It's not like he agreed to something that was designed for the Trustee's to never find out about -- they were going to learn it the next morning.

Its about oversight.

He's shown that he's not willing to let the board exercise it, just like Spanier. Maybe you're right and the board is full of Joe Pa worshiping rubes who can't be trusted to make the right decision. But they're supposed to be his bosses and the president deciding "what's best for Penn St" was a huge part of the problem.

They may have found out about the decision, but given the public nature and the signed document given to the NCAA it was fait acompli, they had no chance to exercise their oversight role.

exactly and maybe they could have gotten a better result had they been given the opportunity to do their jobs. 

[saltlover]

I don't see how these equate at all.  In one case, the (now-former) President helped engage in a campaign of secrecy because he wanted to cover the school's backside.  In the other case, the President makes a very public decision, choosing what he feels is the best of two options, because that's his job in running the school.  It's not like he agreed to something that was designed for the Trustee's to never find out about -- they were going to learn it the next morning.

Its about oversight.

He's shown that he's not willing to let the board exercise it, just like Spanier. Maybe you're right and the board is full of Joe Pa worshiping rubes who can't be trusted to make the right decision. But they're supposed to be his bosses and the president deciding "what's best for Penn St" was a huge part of the problem.

They may have found out about the decision, but given the public nature and the signed document given to the NCAA it was fait acompli, they had no chance to exercise their oversight role.

But the culture was one of secrecy and cover-ups.  This is not what happened here.  If the board doesn't like the decision he made, sure, they can fire him.  It's in their power.  But to say that this is indicative of people not getting it -- I think that's looking for more than there is to this part of the story.