Case Study
“Penn State Scandal – From A Human Behavior Perspective”
Elisa-Ruth Nelson
Southern New Hampshire University
Introduction
November 5, 2011, Pennsylvania grand jury indicted former Penn State assistant coach Gerald Sandusky, accusing him of sexually assaulting young boys. On June 22, 2012, Sandusky was found guilty of 45 of 48 child sex abuse charges. Nearly four months later, (October 9, 2012) Sandusky received a 30 – 60 year sentence. This scandal eventually forced further investigations into whether or not Penn State officials neglected to act when individuals reported Sandusky’s inappropriate behavior with young boys. It also tainted a highly revered university and led to the firing of its college coach along
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It’s considered blasphemy to speak ill of “Joe Pa” in many local circles. He was untouchable in every sense of the word, and he obviously knew it” (Hanford, 2012). However, after the release of the Freeh report and events following, Paterno’s character became tarnished. Most new articles, blogs and opinions written imply that Paterno put himself and the football program ahead of the welfare of children lives. For example, in an article published July 14, 2012 it was reported that when Joe Paterno learned that prosecutors were investigating Sandusky (January 2011), he began to negotiate to amend his contract with his superiors. His contract was not set to expire until the end of 2011 (Rohan, 2012). Since Paterno’s death, his family, lawyers and publicists are actively and aggressively protecting his legacy, by filing lawsuits. They do not believe Freeh’s conclusions that Paterno and other top university officials protected Sandusky to “avoid the consequences of bad publicity” for the university, its football program and the coach’s reputation.
Another illustration of Paterno’s power is when he convinced Athletic Director Tim Curley not to report Sandusky to child welfare authorities and handle the matter internally after Wide Receivers Coach/Recruiting Coordinator Mike McQueary witnessed an incident in 2001 (Nadkarni, 2012). How could that be when Curley is Paterno’s boss? Maybe because Paterno collected a bigger paycheck than Curley? Paterno’s power
The Penn State case that came to light in 2012 is a situation that will be discussed for years to come. Before this situation was brought to light, head coach Joe Paterno was looked at as one of the best coaches in college football history. While it is understandable why former athletic director Tim Curley and Joe Paterno had covered up the situation. They desired to maintain the integrity of the Penn State Nittany Lions football program, and they would do that at whatever cost. However, I agree with you that I too would have acted polar opposite and immediately turned the situation over to the authorities and terminated the employment of Jerry Sandusky. This is not a situation that Curley and Paterno should have covered up, and Penn
The Jerry Sandusky investigation would continue after subpoenas would be served into his records at Penn State University. Just like anything else, past reports begin to become known even though it took the 1998 reports before these older reports were known. These incidents were reported 1994 – 1997. “According to the grand jury report, Sandusky allegedly engages in inappropriate conduct with three different boys he met separately through the Second Mile program. One boy was 7 or 8, another was 10 and the third was 12 or 13 at the time. According to the grand jury report, the now-grown men said Sandusky engaged in inappropriate conduct ranging from touching to outright sexual encounters, including several incidents during the night before Penn
The Sandusky scandal had a huge impact on Penn State, main reason Penn state officials covered it up for so long. Penn State officials didn’t want the disturbing news to damage Penn State impeccable reputation. Although they tried very hard to cover up this issue it was exposed.
Another boy was interrogated by Shreffler who reported similar treatment reported by the 6th Victim. But the investigation ends after District Attorney Ray Gricar decided the case warranted no criminal charges. Shreffler reported to the grand jury that Thomas Harmon, who headed the campus police, told him to close the inquiry. Subsequent investigative reported that Sandusky retired from Penn State's football program in the year 1999, but with an "emeritus" label that allowed him continued access to campus facilities, including the locker room and an office in the latch football
In an effort to maintain this crisis, the legal system sentenced Jerry Sandusky to 30 to 60 years in prison nearly four months after his conviction (Erik & Dan, n.d.). This was not the only sentence handed down. The school is still trying to heal after the terrible aftermath of such a tragedy.
All in all, the NCAA hasn’t been monitoring collegiate athletic programs as close as they should. Consequently, many student athletes continue to find themselves in the middle of unethical situations within their respective programs. With numerous issues arising, it would be in the best interest of the NCAA and the U.S. Government
However, I would have to agree with the first half and say that Joe Paterno’s actions were inadequate. Although Joe Paterno reported what he saw to the Penn State president his responsibility shouldn’t have ended there. Yes, he fulfilled his obligation to report any illegal actions on campus but when the Penn State President chose not to take legal action Paterno should have made the moral decision and had gone to the authorities. Legally, he fulfilled his obligation and therefore no longer holds any responsibility in the eyes of the legal system. In the eyes of morality though, his responsibility in the matter was not over just because he reported it to who he was supposed to. This major problem should have been dealt with a long time ago. It’s just a moral obligation that Joe Paterno should have acted upon. So yes I feel he deserved to be fired. Everyone who knew about it should have reported it to legal authorities. His great athletic achievements and mutual respect should have pushed towards the issue being resolved and not swept under the rug for it to come out years after and now resulting in him being fired. Every action has a reaction and in this case the reaction is due to Paternos lack of action.
Joe Ehrmann describes how he has developed his philosophy of coaching by relating the story of his life in his youth, high school and in college describing two different types of coaches he had played for. The first are coaches who were impersonal, authoritarian, and sometimes abusive which he calls transactional coaches; this is in contrast to the humane coaches he calls transformative coaches. Coaches must face this responsibility because we all remember our coaches. “This is the awesome power and responsibility of coaching: You give your players memories, for better or for worse that stay with them until the day they die” (Ehrmann, 2011 p 46-47). Joe Erhmann goes on to ask, “What is the moral and ethical composition of their program?
The numerous accounts of unethical conduct show that the NCAA has little control over maintaining ethical conduct. If they do not change their approach, the controversial incidents will continue to occur. For example, there are three main stories mentioned in the MindTap reading. This includes the sexual assault scandal at Penn State, the received benefit exclusively for being a football player at Ohio State, and the controversial scandal between the coach and a former student at the University of Arkansas. This proves that the NCAA should be focusing more on ensuring individual rights and values instead of focusing on increasing the school’s revenues. The NCAA seemed to already be taking the compliance approach to resolve those cases and address the stakeholder versus shareholder dilemma. The compliance approach simply meant the NCAA made sure universities were following guidelines suggested by them. It did not prove
Two high-ranking Penn State administrators also face charges they lied about knowledge of the crimes to a grand jury. The grand jury investigation charged that several high-level school officials committed perjury. Many of these were suspended, or dismissed for allegedly covering up the incidents or failing to notify authorities. In the wake of the scandal, school president Graham Spanier was forced to resign, and head football coach Joe Paterno was fired in the middle of the football season. Sandusky has denied the allegations. He is currently
Governor, Tom Corbett took action and warned students to refrain from any violence and should monitor their behavior. "The crowd initially was a peaceful demonstration against Coach Paterno's firing. The crowd quickly turned from a peaceful demonstration to a riotous mob," State College police said in a statement. "The mob attempted to light vehicles on fire, and tore down light posts and street signs." (Klopman) University officials reminded the students that their actions are affecting the family of the victims and other victims in the community that were sexually abused. Assistant coach, Mike McQueary testified to the grand jury in December 2010 that he saw Sandusky sodomize a naked boy of about 10 years old in the football team's locker room shower in 2001. The jury quickly saw his testimony more credible than Curley’s and Schultz’s. Because of this, Penn State placed Mike on administrative leave. “McQueary testified in a grand jury investigation that eventually led to child sex-abuse charges being filed against former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky. The ensuing scandal brought down longtime coach Joe Paterno, who was fired by university trustees amid growing criticism that he should have done more to stop the alleged abuse.” (Marklein) McQueary changed his story saying he e-mailed his friends and
Graham Spanier at the time was the president of Penn State University. He was forced to resign following the Penn State child sex abuse scandal. Tim Curley was the athletic director for Penn State and Gary Schultz was the Vice President. After it was revealed that they failed to report the incident to authorities, both of these men were fired by the board.
When somebody thinks about the west the first things that presumably ring a bell are most likely Cowboys, Indians, Gunfights and The Gold Rush. Almost none individuals consider blacks and their commitment to the development of the west. This is because the fact that the west was viewed as free domain blacks, were still defeated to a certain degree. What individuals need to acknowledge is that slavery is more mental than anything. Blacks made commitments in numerous zones of the west: on the farm, in wars, furthermore in trade. In this paper, I will convey to light a dominant part of the numerous commitments that blacks made to help make the American west what it is known today as “The Buffalo Soldiers”. Numerous individuals convey the confusion
A few years ago, there was much discussion relating to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and those units responsible for instituting student-athlete and athletic department policy. This purpose of this paper is to discuss the ethical misconduct that occurred at Penn State, Ohio State and the University of Arkansas, and how the NCAA played a role in the wrongdoing. Coaches, players, and administrators face mounting pressures brought on by the need to sell seats and win games. In response, this type of pressure creates opportunities for offenses to take place. The first component of the paper will be to determine the fundamental ways in which the ethics programs of the NCAA failed to prevent the scandals at Penn State, Ohio State, and the University of Arkansas. Once those measures are identified and discussed, the ways the NCAA leadership contributed to the ethical violations of these schools will be discussed. The next element of the paper will predict the key differences in the scandals that occurred at each school if an effective ethics program was implemented. Next, the paper will suggest actions that the NCAA leadership should take to regain the trust and confidence of the students and stakeholders. The last section will identify measures that HR departments of
Jerry Sandusky is a name no Pennsylvania State University football fan wants to hear on game day and 2011 is a year that many would likely forget if they could. On November 5th, 2011, several national media outlets reported Jerry Sandusky was a major part of an ongoing, three-year sexual abuse investigation (Klein & Cooper, 2016). The weeks following increasingly became harder to read news stories as more and more cryptic details began surfacing. Young children are so innocent and pure, what causes adults to rob them of their innocence? Reasons can vary from the thrill of molesting children, to feeling power and dominance over the child; furthermore, combining reasons like these to the childhood of Jerry Sandusky and socialization in criminology, one will better be able to understand the questions revolving around this topic.