At Penn State, Joe Paterno was bigger than life, even bronze. His power and influence was so great, nobody dared to confront, challenge and certainly not the legend, a former university official.
During his four years as Vice President of Student Affairs, Vicky Triponey challenged the power and lost. Triponey out the direct supervision of the Office of Judicial Affairs, the university's disciplinary arm. When football players went against school policy, Paterno said Triponey interfered in the process of discipline.
After this incident, said Triponey, then president Graham Spanier said, ". Vicky, you are one of the few people who have seen the dark side of Joe Paterno"
In another case, said Triponey Spanier said, "You can not expect to change the culture" and that "40 years, he has never seen someone moves to Joe Paterno." Spanier n ' has not responded to interview requests this week. Several calls Paterno publicist were not returned or a request by e-mail to the campus public relations.
Report Triponey pressure she faced highlights the influence of the football program was in college. This culture has been scrutinized in the wake of the worst scandal in sports history in college.
After the arrest, a former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, who was accused of sexually abusing eight boys over 15 years, as Spanier and Paterno were out. According to the grand jury report, Paterno and three university officials did not notify the police after having witnessed an additional assistant coach Sandusky sexual assault to 10 years, son of the school's football facility in 2002. Sandusky has maintained his innocence.
Paterno has not been studied.
Athletic director Tim Curley and Gary Schultz Vice President were accused of not reporting the alleged abuse of police and perjury before a grand jury. His lawyers said they are innocent.
Bill Asbury, who spent nearly three decades at the university and preceded Triponey as Vice President of Student Affairs, includes the cultivation of Happy Valley is better than most. He played college football and the NFL, and is a member of intercollegiate athletics reform Knight Commission.
"When we say" We are Penn State, "it is more than just" We are Penn State, and you are not. "It's also". We are Penn State, and we are as we are members of a team, so we will do whatever it takes to protect the team, the culture around the team and the university, "Asbury said. But he probably never imagined that the protection program would cross the line of criminal conduct including allegations of a cover suggests.
On Monday, when the school announced that former FBI Director Louis Freeh lead the internal investigation at Penn State, Ken Frazier, president of the Special Commission, said the group is committed to "get to the bottom of what happened - who knew what and when. "
He also acknowledged the issue that has plagued many: Why Penn State leaders fail to act? "People ask very valid questions about why steps were not taken, which could have saved some of the victims of evil," said Frazier, executive director and president of Merck.
It was a football coach, who spent 61 years in school is too much power? It was to protect the reputation of the program to the detriment of everything else? It was the school, care managers, who have spent most of their working lives from Happy Valley, the game in their own island?
William Britt, a police sergeant in the homicide division of Philadelphia, said he was not surprised by the alleged concealment. "I do not see how it goes (at Penn State). We have lived," said Britt.
In April 2007, forcing as many as two dozen football players their way into a party to an off-campus apartment and assaulted several students at the party, whose son Britt, Jack, who was severely beaten. Six players face criminal charges as a result of fighting. Finally, most of the charges against the players refused, and both players have pleaded guilty to misdemeanor offenses.
Amid the school's internal investigation, said Spanier ordered Triponey meet Paterno. Triponey said she had repeatedly refused to discuss the case with Paterno, not wanting to compromise their impartiality. "The coach was not happy with it," said Triponey in a telephone interview with the state today. "Several times he tried to insist on a meeting with me, asked others to have meetings with me. He sent his wife (Sue) once. In the world of business. This became an apple of discord".
"The coach was literally says his players that they could not cooperate, otherwise they would receive justice kicked off the team. Thus we would have a background of things," said Triponey. "I told coach, 'This would be much easier if you could tell the players to tell the truth." He was furious, and the message was for me, "I can not do. They play with me and I can not ask them to rats each other. " The President also spoke and said: "Vicky, the coach is right. We can not expect the players to tell the truth." Behold, this is the environment that inspired this whole discussion of who is responsible " .
Football won. "The sanctions were issued which were far from the line that is required for the gravity of the offense," said Triponey.
As a result of school research, four main actors were expelled temporarily for the summer semester, but were allowed to return to school early for the start of practice in the fall. Fifteen players were violations. Parental discipline on the team making cleaning a section of Beaver Stadium on Sunday morning after a few home games.
Britt said the school management of the case showed that he was in charge. "The most senior official in State College, Pennsylvania, Joe Paterno. I do not like what the title is one, ran the show there. And he knew everything. There is no doubt in anyone's mind that we return to Joep" said Britt. "I have this by the agents (police), I'm busy. Basically, he said, is a nightmare, all cases, the football team."
Tom King, chief of police in State College the past two decades, said that the players are treated like other students. "I have never experienced a colleague athletes at Penn State, where the university is not in any way attempted to address law enforcement, or to mitigate the arrest," said the king.
In a 2008 segment on ESPN Outside the Lines examine an alarming number of criminal charges related to football players, Paterno has denied threatening the actors involved in the fighting in April 2007. He said: "I never asked (trials) to change a decision in any way."
Asbury, Triponey's predecessor, said he can not remember when the coach asked him to reduce the penalty to a player. Triponey said he was pressured by Spanier and athletic director Tim Curley to ease sanctions against the football players. After meeting with Paterno and other officials in August 2005 to discuss the concerns of Paterno, Triponey sums up the attitude towards the discipline of students in an email Paterno Curley and others.
Triponey maintains records of all correspondence. She wrote that discipline Paterno wanted to keep the coach, who believes the school code of conduct should not apply to all events that take place off campus and that these events should be handled by the police and not affect the status of a student The program should be closer to the bottom of the Big Ten to address the issues of discipline and the school did not inform the public when football players are found responsible for committing serious acts of violence.
Curley reply to his email: "I think your summary is correct." Curley, through a spokesman, declined an interview request.
Triponey said she also got a lot of pressure in a case involving the 2005 standout linebacker Dan Connor, who was accused of harassing calls retired assistant coach Joe Sarra. One night after a football game, said Triponey Spanier and Curley came to his house because Paterno said the Spaniard he had to choose between his vice president for student and football coach. According Triponey said the Spaniard, if he ever had to make this decision, it would side with his vice president.
In 2007, shortly after the tumultuous circumstances of the brawl involving players Spaniard made his choice. Triponey was forced to resign.
"I do not know what happened between Joe and Vicky, but no president, Graham Spanier particularly want to be placed in the middle," said Asbury. "I do not know who committed the fatal error. Someone did, and it's gone. "
The same week that left Triponey Penn State University presented a proposal to reorganize the Office of Judicial Affairs. Change: instead of court cases, coaches and club advisors, would be to determine whether the sanctions faced by students may participate in extracurricular activities such as playing football.
Football still won.
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