What was boardmember Corbett's role in the phone call that told JoePa he was immediately fired

[JPZenger]

Last edited Mon Jan 23, 2012, 10:49 AM - Edit history (3)

Corbett is a member of the Board of Trustees for Penn State. The Board met a few months ago and voted unanimously to fire Paterno. This was 12 hours after Paterno announced he would be retiring. The Board only acted after the scandal became public - the Trustees had been briefed about Sandusky months earlier and hadn't done anything.

The Board sent a messenger to Paterno's home with a piece of paper with a phone number. He called the number and was told he was fired immediately.

It has been reported by some of Paterno's family that the way it was handled broke his spirit and made it more difficult for him to stand up to his illnesses. The Board could have sent out a friend of Paterno to ask him, in person, to please resign after one last home game, which could have served as a public tribute to him.

There are many many angry alums, and they want some heads on a platter before they will donate again.

---
Remember that legal responsibility for the Sandusky investigation was given directly to Corbett almost 3 years before Sandusky was arrested. That is because the County District Attorney felt he had a conflict of interest, because of a relative.

----------------

Here's a new column on this matter:

http://www.fox43.com/sports/football/psu/paterno/mc-joe-paterno-penn-state-cole-yv-0120-20120119,0,183388.story

"Governor, Penn State trustees did cast Joe Paterno aside



Excerpts:

"...The Morning Call sports editor described, among other points, how the Penn State board of trustees and the new school administration appear to have cast Joe Paterno aside as if he had never existed and how both have forgotten that much of today's expanded campus and ongoing research at the university were built in no small part by the visibility and fundraising brought about by Joe Paterno. I totally agree...

Prosecutors say Paterno has not been accused of any wrongdoing and the state police commissioner said JoePa was not in any legal trouble. Yet, JoePa is taking the brunt of the backlash. I do not feel he did anything wrong. He reported secondhand information from a graduate assistant coach to his superior, the athletic director.

Many critics, including our governor, said Paterno did what he had to do legally, but not morally. Wasn't Gov. Corbett the state's attorney general at the time the investigation began? He knew! What did he do? I believe the trustees and the governor are more at fault than anyone else and each one should resign."

-----
There are people who say: why didn't Paterno kick Sandusky off the campus earlier? One, he didn't have the authority. The Administration and/or the Board did. Two, he wasn't told the details of the attack in the shower, because the grad student didn't want to offend him. Paterno was told that something serious happened, so Paterno reported it to the two superiors who were supposed to address it. Third, there is no indication that Paterno was told about the earlier charges against Sandusky - but those charges were known by the Executive Vice President that Paterno called.

As described below, Sandusky did enjoy an October 2010 football game from the President's Box at Beaver Stadium:

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/01/jerry_sandusky_watched_paterno.html
-----
Harrisburg newspaper article: Paterno's Death Spurs More Anger About His Firing:

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/01/joe_paternos_death_stokes_ange.html

--------------
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/19/sports/ncaafootball/penn-state-trustees-recall-decision-to-fire-paterno.html?_r=3&hp=&pagewanted=all

New York Times Article:

"Shortly before 10 p.m., Fran Ganter, the associate athletic director for football, delivered an envelope to Paterno’s home, just off Penn State’s campus. Inside the envelope was a telephone number. Paterno called the number, and Garban answered. Then he passed the telephone to Trustee Chairman Surma, who was seated next to him. Surma asked if Paterno could hear him O.K. Paterno said that he could. Then Surma told Paterno of the trustees’ decision. “The board of trustees has determined effective immediately you are no longer the football coach,” Surma recalled saying.

Then he heard a click. Paterno hung up.

Surma and Garban sat at the table for a moment, numb. Then the telephone rang again. Surma answered. It was Paterno’s wife, Sue, who said, during a short conversation: “After 61 years, he deserved better.” Then she hung up on Surma."

That NY Times article includes interviews with many trustees who give valid reasons for firing Graham Spanier, the University President.

[HopeHoops]

2. Thanks - you saved me having to post that.

[JPZenger]

3. New NY Times Article: 'After 61 Years, He Deserved Better'

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2012/01/23/sports/ncaafootball/AP-FBC-Jim-Litke-012212.html?src=un&feedurl=http%3A%2F%2Fjson8.nytimes.com%2Fpages%2Fsports%2Fncaafootball%2Findex.jsonp

"In the only interview granted since his Nov. 9 firing, a frail and sometimes-foggy Paterno told Sally Jenkins of The Washington Post many of the same things he said when news of Sandusky's indictment broke. Most important, that he wished he'd done more when assistant Mike McQueary came to his house on a Saturday morning in 2002, shaken by what he would later tell a grand jury he had seen the night before in a shower at the team's football complex: Sandusky raping a young boy.

Except that out of deference to his aging and decidedly old-school coach, McQueary apparently withheld the most gruesome details from Paterno. At the time, as in his last interview, it was a story Paterno couldn't — or wouldn't — comprehend.

"You know, he didn't want to get specific," Paterno told the newspaper. "And to be frank with you I don't know that it would have done any good, because I never heard of, of, rape and a man. So I just did what I thought was best. I talked to people that I thought would be, if there was a problem, that would be following up on it."

[JPZenger]

4. Penn State boardmembers

Most of the Penn State Boardmembers elect each other. The Board includes the Governor, 3 of his cabinet secretaries and a top Corbett aide (who also helped run his Governor campaign).

Note - the current Penn State President, Rodney Erickson, had no role in any of these matters. He was the Provost, who was responsible for only academic matters. He had planned to retire, but was asked to serve as President for a couple years to help right the ship.