In addition to a $60 million dollar fine, Penn State was also banned from postseason and bowl games for four years and forced to vacate its victories from 1998 through 2011.

The harsh punishment comes it the wake of former FBI director Louis Freeh’s report that found the college and its legendary football coach, the late Joe Paterno, played a role in covering up former coach Jerry Sandusky’s sexual abuse of children.

Current Penn State football players will be able to transfer without penalty if they choose.

The college was not slapped with the so-called “death penalty,” which would have eliminated an entire season or more for the program.

As word spread of the sanctions inflicted by the NCAA, the internet experienced mixed reaction from those who believe current players should not be punished for the past, and others who say the punishment in not harsh enough.

Here’s a roundup of reaction from students, alumni, players and critics.

[View the story "Penn State reaction " on Storify]

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“I now believe that, contrary to its original intention, Coach Paterno’s statue has become a source of division and an obstacle to healing in our university and beyond,” Penn State President Rodney Erickson said in a statement on Sunday.

“For that reason, I have decided that it is in the best interest of our university and public safety to remove the statue and store it in a secure location,” Erickson said. “I believe that, were it to remain, the statue will be a recurring wound to the multitude of individuals across the nation and beyond who have been the victims of child abuse.”

At the same time, Erickson said, he feels “strongly” that Penn State’s Paterno Library should retain its name.

Critics had increased calls for the seven-foot (2.1-metre) statue of Paterno to be removed following the recent release of a damning report by former FBI director Louis Freeh that criticized Paterno for his role in protecting Jerry Sandusky, the former assistant coach convicted in June of sexually abusing 10 boys over 15 years.

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Family members said they “are dismayed by, and vehemently disagree with” findings in the report by former FBI Director Louis Freeh that accused Paterno and other Pennsylvania State University officials of failing to take steps for 14 years to protect the children victimized by assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.

Freeh, in the report commissioned by the Penn State board of trustees, blamed them for conducting a cover-up to avoid consequences of bad publicity that could upset donors and damage the Penn State brand.

Sandusky, 68, was convicted last month of sexually abusing 10 boys over 15 years and faces up to 373 years in prison.

The Paterno family said it has asked its attorneys and experts to conduct a comprehensive review of Freeh’s report and comments, and “we have also asked them to go beyond the report and identify additional information that should be analyzed.”

They said they asked Freeh to preserve all his records, notes and other materials “as we expect they will be the subject of great interest in the future.”

“To those who are convinced that the Freeh report is the last word on this matter, that is absolutely not the case,” the family said. “It is highly likely that additional critical information will emerge.”

Paterno’s estate could be sued for damages by victims of Sandusky’s abuse, according to legal experts.

The scandal rocked the world of college sports with Sandusky’s arrest in November, and Freeh’s report underscored what it called callous disregard and inaction by Penn State officials. It said they had known about allegations against Sandusky since 1998, when university police investigated a complaint of abuse but let him off with a warning.

There are calls for Penn State’s highly regarded football program to be penalized and for the taking down of a campus statue of Paterno, who won more games than any coach in major college football history.

A university spokesman said on Monday that neither the board of trustees nor the Penn State administration had made a decision on the statue.

Paterno was fired by the board in November and died in January of lung cancer.

“To claim that he knowingly, intentionally protected a pedophile is false,” his family said in the statement.

The Freeh report said emails exchanged in 1998 and 2001 showed school officials discussed reporting allegations about Sandusky to authorities. After speaking to Paterno, “they changed the plan and decided not to make a report,” Freeh said.

The Paterno family said it did not intend to duplicate Freeh’s efforts and would not make further comments until its attorneys have an update on the progress of their investigation.

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Pennsylvania State University trustees hired Freeh and his law firm to investigate the school’s handling of the allegations involving Sandusky, 68, who was convicted last month of sexually abusing 10 boys.

“Our most saddening and sobering finding is the total disregard for the safety and welfare of Sandusky’s child victims by the most senior leaders at Penn State,” Freeh said in a statement on the findings of an eight-month investigation.

Freeh also criticized the board that hired him, saying it failed to hold senior leaders accountable.

The 267-page report could influence Penn State as it prepares for potential civil lawsuits. The university has already invited victims to try to resolve claims against the school. The report could also shed light on any criminal liability for two university officials charged with perjury and failing to report what they knew about Sandusky. Both have pleaded not guilty.

Sandusky, the defensive coach who helped turn Penn State into a perennial powerhouse under Paterno, was convicted on June 22 of 45 counts of child molestation involving 10 boys over 15 years and awaits sentencing, facing up to 373 years in prison.

The grand jury charges against Sandusky in November prompted the firing of university President Graham Spanier and Paterno, the legendary “JoePa” who won more games than any other major college football coach. Paterno died two months later of lung cancer at age 85.

At the heart of the Freeh probe is how Paterno and other Penn State officials reacted to the story of Mike McQueary, a graduate assistant who told them in 2001 he had seen Sandusky in a sexual position with a boy in a football locker room shower. Neither police nor child protective services was informed.

The report said Paterno and others also knew about a 1998 criminal investigation of Sandusky in which he was suspected of misconduct with a boy in a locker room shower.

“In short, nothing was done and Sandusky was allowed to continue with impunity,” Freeh said.

Failure to alert authorities allowed Sandusky to continue preying on young boys for years, prosecutors said. At least half of Sandusky’s 10 known victims were abused after 1998.

Former Athletic Director Tim Curley and Gary Schultz, a former university vice president, face charges of perjury and failure to report suspected abuse in the case.

“Messrs. Spanier, Schultz, Paterno and Curley never demonstrated, through actions or words, any concern for the safety and well-being of Sandusky’s victims until after Sandusky’s arrest,” Freeh said.

Freeh was a U.S. District judge when former President Bill Clinton named him to run the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1993. He remained in the post through 2001.

Freeh’s team conducted more than 430 interviews in its investigation, including with school staff, coaches, athletes and others, and sifted through 3.5 million emails and documents. The most damning evidence, however, came from the discovery of “critical” emails exchanged in 1998 and 2001.

Paterno downfall gives fans ‘double shock’

A leading sports psychologist characterized the negative reaction after the Freeh report as “double shock.”

Joel Fish, a sports psychologist and director of the Center for Sport Psychology in Philadelphia, said the average Penn State fan or alum is in shock from the report’s deplorable findings, but that Joe Paterno’s iconic status adds to the outrage.

“Sometimes the more beloved a person is the more hurt we are when they don’t live up to our expectations and what we think of them,” explained Fish, who has worked locally for the Phillies, Flyers and Sixers. “I think for many people in this state the shock is intense – double shock, if you will.”

Another reason the scandal has elicited such strong emotion is because sports figures have become more revered in today’s society and Paterno was one of the biggest celebrities.

“Now we get sports 24/7, you see athletes so often now you feel like you know them. I think because we have such access to athletes now you can really start to feel like you know them because you see them so often,” he said.

As for Paterno’s lasting legacy, Fish said some people will maintain a negative view due to the Sandusky scandal, while others will take into account his good will and contributions to Penn State. “For a certain percentage of people, the legacy will take into account the whole picture and not just this” certain situation.         
Solomon D. Leach/Metro

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Paterno and Graham Spanier were fired in November after Sandusky was accused of sexually abusing young boys over a 15-year period.

Many alumni were upset over the firing of Paterno, who was head coach for 46 years. With 409 victories at Penn State, he won more games in big-time college football than any other coach in the sport’s history. Paterno died in January of lung cancer.

A report released by the university’s board on Monday said a graduate student told Paterno in 2002 about seeing Sandusky “fondling or doing something of a sexual nature” to a boy in showers on campus.

Paterno told his supervisor, Athletic Director Tim Curley, but did not call police, the report said. The board said it learned the details of Paterno’s actions in a grand jury report.

“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 report said.

Sandusky, who faces 52 counts of sexual abuse, has maintained his innocence. A hearing in his case was being held on Monday in Centre County Court, Pennsylvania. Sandusky is under house arrest and was not expected to appear in court until his trial in mid-May.

The Penn State board said Spanier “failed to meet his leadership responsibilities” after learning of the 2002 incident. Spanier did not tell the board what he knew about the episode and also made statements to the media that were unauthorized or contradicted the board’s instructions, it said.

Spanier remains a tenured professor, the board said.

The board said it issued its explanations at the request of Penn State students, faculty and alumni.

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McQueary told a grand jury that he witnessed the sexual abuse of the child in a PSU locker room shower in 2002, but fled the scene without attempting to stop it. McQueary did say that he told head coach Joe Paterno, who was fired this week after it was revealed that he, along with several other Penn State administrators, never notified police about the abuse either.

The Penn State Athletic Department issued this statement Thursday night:

Due to multiple threats made against Assistant Coach Mike McQueary, the University has decided it would be in the best interest of all for Assistant Coach McQueary not to be in attendance at Saturday’s Nebraska game.

McQueary has been at the center of widespread criticism both for admitted failure to step in and stop the abuse while it was occurring, and for being permitted to keep his job after others who had similarly failed were fired. McQueary has not spoken publicly and his mother said Thursday that they had been advised not to, according to ESPN.

Coach Tom Bradley will replace Joe Paterno on an interim basis through the rest of the season.

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The 23-page report could likely be the most disturbing material you read all year, but the information within sheds light on the fact that these heinous acts went on for years, and reveals there were many people on the Penn State campus who likely knew about the abuse and could possibly have done more to stop it.

We’ve been repeatedly hearing the names Joe Paterno, Graham Spanier, Tim Curley and Gary Schultz all week for their alleged role in covering up Sandusky’s misdeed, but the grand jury findings say at least two other people actually witnessed Sandusky abuse a child, and multiple others observed inappropriate behavior, or were told by other people that Sandusky may have posed a threat to children.

It’s impossible to understand how so many people could have known about what was (allegedly) happening on campus, yet the abuse (again, allegedly) went on for years.

Here’s a summary of the major players within the report and the involvement each of them had… or didn’t have.

Joseph Miller, Clinton County wrestling coach

According to the grand jury, Sandusky would assist with coaching at a Clinton County high school and had access to the building’s facilities. Joe Miller, a wrestling coach for the district’s elementary school, entered a room at the high school one evening in 2006 or 2007 to find Sandusky and a young boy, age 12 or 13, lying face-to-face on a mat, alone in a wrestling room.

“He recalls that Sandusky jumped up and said, ‘Hey Coach, we’re just working on some wrestling moves.’ Sandusky was not a wrestling coach. Miller found the use of that secluded room odd for wrestling because the bigger wrestling room right outside the weight room had more room to wrestle and more mats,” the report said.

It does not say, however, that Miller ever reported the incident.

Steven Turchetta, assistant high school principal and head football coach

Turchetta testified that he routinely witnessed controlling behavior from Sandusky towards the boys who he mentored through the Second Mile program, a charity founded by Sandusky to benefit underprivileged children. Turchetta said he became aware of allegations of sexual assault against Sandusky when a mother of one of the victims called the school to report it in 2008. Sandusky was forbidden to return to the school district and Turchetta did, indeed, notify authorities.

The investigation launched found that Sandusky had made more than 100 phone calls to the victim from January 2008 to July 2009.

Mike McQueary, PSU graduate assistant  

It’s well known by now that McQueary said he actually witnessed Sandusky sexually abusing a boy as young as 10 years old in a PSU locker room shower in 2002.

“The graduate assistant was shocked, but noticed that both Victim 2 and Sandusky saw him. The graduate assistant left immediately, distraught,” according to the report.

McQueary did nothing to rescue the young boy from the assault he was enduring. He did, however, say he reported the matter to head coach Joe Paterno. Paterno testified to passing along the information that Sandusky had been doing something of a sexual nature with the boy to Penn State Atheltic Director Tim Curley. Curley testified that he and Senior Vice President for Finance and Business Gary Schultz then had a meeting with McQueary about what he witnessed.

Curley and Schultz gave different accounts about the information they received from McQueary, and neither of them ever contacted police. Curley did inform PSU President Graham Spanier. However, Curley was not specific in the language he used in that conversation.  Curley and Schultz have both been charged with perjury. Records that were subpoenaed from the Department of Public Welfare and Children and Youth Services and University Police show that this incident was never reported.

Dr. Jack Raykovitz, executive director of the Second Mile

Curley testified that he informed Raykovitz about Sandusky’s “inappropriate conduct” or “horsing around,” but also said that he did not get a sense that the behavior was sexual in any way.

Wendell Courtney, PSU counsel, The Second Mile counsel

“Schultz testified that the 1998 incident was reviewed by the University Police and the ‘child protection agency’ with the blessing of then-University counsel Wendell Courtney. Courtney was then and remains counsel for The Second Mile,” the report states. However, there is no testimony from Courtney included by the grand jury.

University Police Detective Ronald Schreffler and State College Police Department Detective Ralph Ralston

The mother of a victim called University Police in 1998 after she learned that her son had showered with Jerry Sandusky, according to the report. Schreffler conducted a lengthy investigation, during which he and Ralston listened in on phone conversations between Sandusky and the victim’s mother. Sandusky admitted to showering with other boys and said in one conversation, “I understand. I was wrong. I wish I could get forgiveness. I know I won’t get it from you. I wish I were dead.”

The investigation was closed after then-Centre County District Attorney Ray Gricar decided there would be no criminal charges brought against Sandusky. Schreffler testified that he was also told by the director of campus police, Thomas Harmon, to close the investigation, which by then included a second alleged child victim of Sandusky.

Jerry Lauro, investigator with the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare

Lauro testified that he interviewed Sandusky with Schreffler during the 1998 investigation. Sandusky admitted to showering with the victim, hugging the victim while naked in the shower, and acknowledged that it was wrong. Lauro testified that Schreffler advised Sandusky not to shower with children again and Sandusky said he would not.

Jim Calhoun, PSU janitor; Ronald Petrosky; Office of Physical Plant employee; Jay Witherite, Calhoun’s supervisor

Calhoun said he witnessed Sandusky performing oral sex on a boy in the locker room showers in 2000. Much like McQueary, Calhoun reported leaving the scene without stopping the abuse. The same evening, Petrosky saw Sandusky and a young boy together in the locker room and watched them walk away holding hands. Calhoun, who was visibly shaken, told Petrosky about what he had seen later that evening. Petrosky testified that Calhoun was crying and seemed so upset that Petrosky worried he might have a heart attack.

“Jim said he had ‘fought in the [Korean] war… seen people with their guts blowed out, arms dismembered… I just witnessed something in there I’ll never forget,’” according to the report.  

That same evening, Calhoun also told Witherite about seeing Sandusky perform oral sex on the boy.

According to his testimony, “Witherite told him to whom he should report the incident, if he chose to report it.”

Jim Calhoun never filed a report.

There have been no trials or convictions in this case. Whether you believe the people in this report did enough or not, it’s hard not to wonder if any of Sandusky’s alleged victims might have been spared if just one of these people had done something more.


The full grand jury report:

Penn State Sandusky Grand Jury Presentment 2

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Chanting “Hell no, Joe won’t go” and “We want Joe back,” they also cursed former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, who was charged on Saturday with sexually abusing eight young boys over a period of nearly 15 years.

Two other university officials have been charged with failing to report an incident in 2002 when Sandusky allegedly was seen sexually assaulting a child.

Paterno, who has been head coach for 46 years, was dismissed Wednesday by the university’s board of trustees along with university President Graham Spanier hours after the U.S. Education Department announced an investigation of conduct at Penn State.

The students filled two city blocks near the campus and turned over a media van before earth-moving equipment was brought in to right the vehicle. Members of the crowd also damaged at least two light poles.

Scores of police and state troopers, some in riot gear, tried to clear the streets, and some officers used a chemical spray to disperse the demonstrators. Crowds thinned somewhat after a light rain began to fall.

At least three people were escorted away by police but it was not immediately clear if they were arrested. A police spokeswoman had said she was not aware of any arrests.

“I haven’t seen this kind of student outrage about anything since I’ve been here,” said Caroline Celoquin, a senior from Westchester, Pennsylvania.

Asked how she felt about Paterno being fired, Nicole Atlak, a freshman from Toms River, New Jersey, said: “Absolutely disgusted. From a student’s perspective, it’s like where do we go from here? We no longer have a president. We no longer have a 45-year legacy.”

A student with a bullhorn addressed the crowd, saying: “I think it’s only fair to let him (Paterno) ride out the season because this is the house that Joe built.”

While most of the students were protesting the decision, some said they understood the move by the board of trustees and did not condone Paterno’s failure to report the alleged sexual abuse to police. Still, the majority seemed more upset that Paterno was not allowed to complete the season, as he had wanted.

Paterno won more games than any other major college coach in history. He told a grand jury investigation that when he was informed in 2002 of his assistant coach’s alleged sexual abuse of a boy, he passed the information on to the athletic director but did not follow up. The alleged abuse continued for several more years.

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Paterno earlier in the day said he would retire at the end of the season. While many media types had called for the head coach to tender his resignation immediately, his players — the ones still in contention for a Big 10 championship — wanted him to stay.

Yesterday, they gave Paterno a standing ovation after he informed the team of his decision to retire. The 84-year-old broke down in tears.

“I never thought I’d hear those words coming from Joe Paterno’s mouth,” said fullback Michael Zordich, whose father played under disgraced defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky. “I don’t believe he’s stepping down solely because of this. The power that he has, to be that selfless, and put this program in front of him and try to clear the program’s name, it’s unbelievable to me and I can’t even tell you how much respect I have for that man.”

The Nittany Lions play their last home game of the season against No. 19 Nebraska. Many students had rallied around the coach, who with his thick, black-rimmed glasses and blue windbreaker has been the face of Penn State football for generations.

“This is a tragedy. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more,” Paterno said in a statement earlier in the day. “My goals now are to keep my commitments to my players and staff and finish the season with dignity and determination. And then I will spend the rest of my life doing everything I can to help this university.”

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“It was not an easy decision,” Board of Trustees President Vice Chairman John Surma said last night shortly after 10 p.m. “In our view, things had reached a point that a change was necessary in the long interest of the university.”

Riot police were dispatched to the university’s main campus in State College in anticipation of students’ reaction to Paterno ouster. For the last couple days, students publicly supported Paterno on and nearby the campus. Hundreds spent hours outside Paterno’s home off campus Monday and Tuesday.

JoePa’s firing comes after a day of growing criticism about the university’s silence on the coach’s future. Paterno said in a statement earlier in the day that he would stay on for the rest of the season, then retire.

While ESPM’s Jay Bilas said earlier yesterday on the sports network, “It’s inconceivable to me that they could continue in their current position,” fellow college sports analysts like Kirk Herbstreit said that kicking out Paterno and his staff before the end of the season would be unfair to the young athletes on the team.

Assistant coach Tom Bradley will take over for the rest of the year, the trustees said.

Feds look into whether PSU follow crime rules

The U.S. Department of Education announced last night that it will investigate whether Penn State University failed to comply with federal crime reporting laws.

“If it turns out that some people at the school knew of the abuse and did nothing or covered it up, that makes it even worse,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan said of the sex abuse scandal. “Schools and school officials have a legal and moral responsibility to protect children and young people from violence and abuse.” 

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I am absolutely devastated by the developments in this case. I grieve for the children and their families, and I pray for their comfort and relief.

I have come to work every day for the last 61 years with one clear goal in mind: To serve the best interests of this university and the young men who have been entrusted to my care. I have the same goal today.

That’s why I have decided to announce my retirement effective at the end of this season. At this moment the Board of Trustees should not spend a single minute discussing my status. They have far more important matters to address. I want to make this as easy for them as I possibly can.

This is a tragedy. It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more. My goals now are to keep my commitments to my players and staff and finish the season with dignity and determination. And then I will spend the rest of my life doing everything I can to help this university.

Paterno is still planning to coach the team in this Saturday’s home game
against Nebraska, despite overwhelming cries from the public for his
immediate resignation.

This is the 84-year-old coach’s 46th season with the Nittany Lions. Paterno came under fire after his apparent failure to follow up on a child abuse report filed against former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky. Sandusky is charged in the sexual abuse of eight boys over the course of fifteen years. Athletic director Tim Curley has taken administrative leave and PSU Vice President Gary Schultz resigned after they were both charged with perjury for concealing what they knew about the abuse. Paterno has not been charged.

UPDATE: The Easton Express-Times is also reporting that Penn State president Graham Spanier will either quit or be fired today in wake of the scandal. Like Paterno, Spanier was informed in 2002 that an assistant coach had allegedly witnessed former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky raping a boy in a Penn State locker room, and did not report the incident to police. The Express-Times also says that Executive Vice President and Provost Rodney Erickson will be the mostly like interim President for the university.

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Former PSU coach Jerry Sandusky has been charged with sexually abusing eight boys from 1994 to 2008, sometimes in the college’s locker rooms. The op-ed points the finger of blame at Spanier for not calling police after the abuse was reported by a graduate assistant. The op-ed, written by the Patriot-News editorial board, also suggests that this should be legendary coach Joe Paterno’s last season, since he did not call police about Spanier either.

The controversial front page has been making the rounds on the internet. Is the front page the right place for an opinion like this? Do you agree with the message?

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