… UD learns that Graham Spanier, once president of Penn State, has been charged with “obstruction of justice, perjury, conspiracy, endangering the welfare of children and failure to report allegations of child abuse.”
In the Jerry Sandusky sex scandal,
emails show that [Tim] Curley, [Gary] Schultz and Spanier at first agreed to report the allegations by [Mike] McQueary to child welfare authorities, but that Curley later changed his mind “after talking it over with Joe” — a reference to Paterno. They then developed a new plan to encourage Sandusky to seek professional help, according to the Freeh report. “This approach is acceptable to me,” Spanier wrote in a Feb. 27, 2001 email to Curley and Schultz. The only downside for us if the message isnt ‘heard’ and acted upon, and we then become vulnerable for not having reported it. But that can be assessed down the road. The approach you outline and a reasonable way to proceed.”
These new charges not only bring back the Penn State scandal; they remind us of its profound dimensions: The president of a major American university is now accused of a shocking list of crimes.
November 1st, 2012 at 5:11PM
Thanks, UD. Would any campus insider or close observer of higher education be awfully shocked if a university were to be prosecuted under the federal RICO statute, normally used for the prosecution of Mob figures?
November 1st, 2012 at 6:30PM
What has not been discussed widely is that Graham B. Spanier is on “sabbatical” this year to the tune of $700,000, which will end Nov. 9. He will then resume his tenured position at PSU at $600,000 per year. Tenure? Sabbatical?? Doubt that this was what tenure was designed to protect and that a sabbatical needs to be earned….
“University spokesman David La Torre said that under Spanier’s employment agreement, the former president is receiving $700,000 during his one-year sabbatical period, which ends on Nov. 9. After that, his employment agreement provides he be paid $600,000, La Torre said.”
http://www.centredaily.com/2012/11/01/3388709/charges-expected-today-for-former.html
November 1st, 2012 at 7:06PM
From the Penn State Propaganda Portal:
Spanier was removed as president of the University on Nov. 9, 2011. After his removal, he continued to serve as a tenured professor at Penn State, though he has been on sabbatical leave. In light of the charges brought against him, Spanier will be placed on leave, effective immediately.
No word on whether this will be paid leave or not. My guess is paid.
http://live.psu.edu/story/62417
November 2nd, 2012 at 1:11AM
Well, wouldn’t it be nice if the same principle were applied to PHARMA executives who had to know what was happening in their sales force and their marketing departments? Like off-label promotion and ghostwriting and suppression of unflattering (“commercially unacceptable”) data from clinical trials like Glaxo Study 329. Some C-suite jail time might work wonders in that arena.