Town Talk
November 11, 2011
http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20111111/NEWS/111111006/Merck-CEO-will-lead-Penn-State-s-child-sex-abuse-inquiry?odyssey=nav|head
 |
| Penn State University Board of Trustees member Kenneth C. Frazier, president and CEO of Merck & Co., comments Friday after being appointed by the trustees to chair a committee to investigate the alleged child sexual abuse by a former assistant football coach, Jerry Sandusky. The trustees, who fired legendary football coach Joe Paterno and school President Graham B. Spanier on Wednesday, are meeting in the wake of the shakeup prompted by the scandal. / AP Photo / Gene J. Puskar |
Penn State's board of trustees on Friday vowed to restore "public trust in the university" and empaneled a committee to investigate the child sex abuse scandal that has rocked the campus and community.
The board named trustee Ken Frazier, president and chief executive officer of Merck & Co. Inc., and a Penn State graduate, to head the investigation.
"We're going to get to the bottom of all these matters," Frazier said.
The regularly scheduled meeting began Friday morning with trustees welcoming the new interim university president, Rodney Erickson.
"My heart aches for the victims," said Erickson, who received a standing ovation. "It will take all of us some time to come to grips with the full magnitude of the damages … (but) we are certainly not adrift or without a vision going forward."
The meeting was moved to a larger room in the on-campus Nittany Lion Inn to accommodate a larger-than-normal crowd of about 200 people that included the news media, spectators and Gov. Tom Corbett.
Corbett, the state's former attorney general, said Thursday he supported the board's decision earlier in the week to fire football coach Joe Paterno and university President Graham B. Spanier
On Friday police officers stood outside the boardroom doors. Two student groups had planned to confront the board but canceled plans after Spanier was fired.
"We are committed to restoring public trust in this university," said board Chairman Steve Garban.
The university is trying to recover as former defensive coordinator Gerald A. "Jerry" Sandusky faces a 40-count criminal indictment brought by the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office for alleged sexual abuse of boys, some in the football locker room. The fallout ended Paterno's legendary coaching career and resulted in Spanier's ouster.
Athletics Director Tim Curley and interim senior vice president Gary Schultz have been charged with perjury and failing to report the abuse to authorities. Curley is on administrative leave, and Schultz went back into retirement.
 |
| Gerald A. "Jerry" Sandusky Former defensive coordinator Penn State football / Provided / Pennsylbania Attorney General's Office |
The charging documents allege the child abuse offenses occurred from 1994 to 2005, "both while Sandusky was a football coach … and after he retired from coaching."
In Texas authorities said they are "looking into the possibility that an offense may have happened" when Penn State played in the Alamo Bowl in 1999.
"We are investigating whether an offense may have happened in San Antonio," said San Antonio police Sgt. Chris Benavides.
The Alamo Bowl was Sandusky's last game at Penn State, and the grand jury report says he took one boy he allegedly molested to the game and threatened to send him home when the victim resisted his advances.
On Friday trustees asked fans to be respectful and "set a new standard of sportsmanship" at Saturday's football game against the University of Nebraska, where interim coach Tom Bradley will coaching his first game.
Officials are expecting a groundswell of people at the game who support Paterno, including many who are angry at the way they think officials handled the scandal.
Students are planning a vigil on the Old Main lawn Friday night. So far more than 8,000 people on Facebook have said they plan to attend.
Saturday's game was supposed to be a "White Out" game, in which the school asks all fans to wear white for certain home games. It's well-coordinated, intimidating and effective. But in light of the scandal people are being encouraged to wear blue. Penn State's colors are blue and white.
A T-shirt that reads "Stop Child Abuse, Blue Out Nebraska" is on sale at McLanahan's Student Store on College Avenue in State College, Pa. According to Penn State, the shirt will be on sale for $9.99 with 100 percent of the proceeds going to Prevent Child Abuse Pennsylvania.
"In addition to being the color of our team's home game jerseys, blue represents the color of bruises that have too often been neglected," the school said in a Facebook post that was reprinted by the Philadelphia Daily News.
"Let's make national news for our collective actions to show solidarity with both the victims and our fellow classmates on the field."
Many of Paterno's former players have said they plan to come to the game and show their support for the coach they still speak highly of.
One of those players, former NFL linebacker and Penn State alum Brandon Short, showed up at Paterno's doorstep Thursday afternoon. Several assistant coaches, many of whom played for and were recruited by Paterno, visited with their former boss Thursday morning.
"We know he's going to be watching. He's probably going to still be yelling at the TV when he sees somebody mess up," left tackle Quinn Barham said. "It's tough. I'd like to shake his hand on Senior Day, but you can't do that."
Frazier said after the meeting that findings of the investigation will be made public, and that the committee will work with the attorney general's ongoing investigation. He said the committee will do "everything it can to ensure that "this kind of thing never happens again."
Frazier is a lawyer and has been the CEO of Merck since last January, according to his biography on the board of trustees website. He joined the company in 1992 as vice president, general counsel and secretary of the Astra Merck Group.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.