It’s been a little more than a month since the horrendous child sex-abuse charges against former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky were made public, rocking the institution to its very core and bringing widespread condemnation for how the university handled the initial allegations. A legendary coach and long-time president were fired in the wake of Sandusky’s indictment, and multiple investigations were launched at many levels, but the silence coming from PSU’s conference, though, was deafening.
That all changed on the part of the Big Ten Thursday afternoon. And, based on the wording of the statement addressing the scandal and the proposed actions, we’re guessing the school, in the midst of a search for a new head football coach, would’ve preferred silence remained the status quo.
In a statement released a short time ago, the Big Ten Council of Presidents/Chancellors (COP/C) wrote that -- our emphasis added -- “there does appear to be sufficient information to raise significant concerns as to whether a concentration of power in a single individual or program may have threatened or eroded institutional control of intercollegiate athletics at Penn State.” As a result of the grand jury presentment in the Sandusky case released last month and other information that has since surfaced, the COP/C has proposed the following:
- It will gather and review the facts arising out of the allegations in the Grand Jury report that pertain to matters of institutional control, ethical conduct and/or other compliance related issues;
- It will request from Penn State University and the NCAA that Big Ten legal counsel be allowed to participate in the investigations or reviews, as the case may be, being conducted by Penn State and the NCAA as pertain to these issues; and
- It will reserve the right to impose sanctions, corrective or other disciplinary measures in the event that adverse findings are made in the areas of institutional control, ethical conduct and/or other Conference related matters.
The NCAA has already commenced a review related to the areas of institutional control and ethical conduct noted in the Big Ten’s release. Pending Penn State’s response to questions posed to them last month, the NCAA could -- and likely will -- launch a full-blown investigation into the football program specifically and the athletic department as a whole.
The Big Ten’s publicly-stated interest comes one day after Sandusky was hit with additional charges related to the sexual molestation of minor boys, with some of the alleged incidents occurring on the Penn State campus and in the Lasch football building.