Thursday, July 12, 2012

Not another word.

Well, the results of the Freeh Report are out.

Here are some Excerpts.

"The most saddening finding by the Special Investigative Counsel is the total and consistent disregard by the most senior leaders at Penn State for the safety and welfare of Sandusky's child victims."

"Four of the most powerful people at the The Pennsylvania State University - President Graham B. Spanier, Senior Vice President-Finance and Business Gary C. Schultz, Athletic Director Director Timothy M. Curley and Head Football Coach Joseph V. Paterno - failed to protect against a child sexual predator harming children for over a decade."

"The individuals, unchecked by the Board of Trustees that didnot perform its oversight duties, empowered Sandusky to attract potential victims to the campus and football events by allowing him to have the continued, unrestricted, and unsupervised access to the University's facilities and affiliation with the University's prominent football program.

"The avoidance of the consequences of bad publicity is the most significant, but not the only, cause for this failure to protect child victims and report to authorities.  The investigation also revealed:
  • A striking lack of empathy for child abuse victims by the most senior leaders of the University.
  • A failure by the Board to exercise its oversight functions in 1998 and 2001 by not having regular reporting procedures or committee structures in place to ensure disclosure to the Board of major risks to the University.
  • A failure by the board to make reasonable inquiry in 2011 by not demanding details from Spanier and the General Counsel about the nature and direction of the grand jury investigation and the University's response to the investigation.
  • A President who discouraged discussion and dissent.
  • A lack of awareness of child abuse issues, the Clery Act, and whistleblower policies and protections.
  • A decision by Spanier, Schultz, Paterno, and Curley to allow Sandusky to retire in 1999, not as a suspected child predator, but as a valued member of the Penn State football legacy, with future "visibility" at Penn State and ways "to continue to work with young people through Penn State," essentially granting him license to bring boys to campus facilities for "grooming" as targets for his assaults.  Sandusky retained unlimited access to University facilities until November 2011.
  • A football program that did not fully participate in, or opted out, of some University programs, including Clery Act compliance.  Like the rest of the University, the football program staff had not been trained in their Clery act responsibilities and most had never heard of the Clery Act.
  • A culture of reverence for the football program that is ingrained at all levels of the campus community."
So, to make it short.  I don't think I can stand to hear another word about Joe Paterno's Legacy.

The man who was lauded for helping men make the hard, right, choices couldn't practice what he preached.  That's all that matters.

Not. Another. Word.

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