<p>“I would like to assure you that every faculty and staff member on campus is committed to ensuring that Penn State remains an exceptional institution of learning and an incredible place to spend one’s formative college years.”</p>
<p>I’d like to see them prove it. What I see is a bunch of cowards who’ve lost the shred of human decency (and forget any talk about “academic integrity”).</p>
<p>And when addressing Professor Emeritus Sandusky, the university spokesman seems to think it is more important to talk about taking away the jailed Professor’s football tickets than his academic title. Isn’t that the whole tale in a nutshell?</p>
<p>“Those who had no prior knowledge of Paterno’s reputation cannot understand why it’s so hard to believe he did something heinous. He was a football coach for gosh sakes. I’ve read stories around the internet by people that had personal contact with him that said he wasn’t so nice. Just going to show he wasn’t perfect, there were people who didn’t like him, just like the rest of us. So this “saint” image, for a football coach is baffling.”</p>
<p>kayf, how I wish the Penn State faculty would say that. In fact, I wish ANYONE at Penn State would say it. But you’re right, the silence so far is deafening. Sad, because I’m sure there are plenty of people with integrity, faculty and others, who would love to say just what you said. I wonder why they don’t.</p>
<p>Perhaps because they have been instructed by university lawyers not to talk.</p>
<p>Altho not in the same league, years ago when we had a student filing grievances at every faculty member who looked at her crooked (including me), we were told not to talk to ANYONE (the student, her parents, other students, her lawyer, prospective employers, etc) about anything until the situation was completely settled. Didn’t matter if faculty members were tenured or not. In the end, the grievances the student filed were dismissed, but it took many months.</p>
<p>GRcxx3, I am not asking anyone to talk about the facts of the Sandusky/Paterno. I am asking them to take a stand about what the university should do.</p>
<p>GRcxx – and I am suggesting that even if they have been told to say nothing, that it is time for decent people to speak out. How can tenured professors not speak out? What is the point of tenure, if not to allow people to speak out? Why were the UVa professors willing to take on the Trustees? Please don’t say because there own self-interest was threatened and not children.</p>
<p>I was thinking exactly that. Penn State faces enormous liability and it would seem the university is consciously focused on presenting a united front, focusing on the positives and hoping for the best. I find it unnerving, especially the boasting about the highest fund raising this year. I read Erickson’s letter to parents as a sad attempt to reassure parents, while mentioning circumstances that supported Sandusky. seriously, circumstances, I thought it was the President, Athletic Coach et al. Now we’re calling people, circumstances. Is that like calling corporations people??</p>
<p>Yes,that would be the normal procedure for any business in legal crisis. There is generally a designated spokesperson (or two) and he/she/they are the only people authorized to speak in any public setting or in these days in any social media. All media requests would also flow through those channels. Just about every company of reasonable size has a crisis communication plan on record that is triggered. Most companies have a communication chain of command, but that can be very relaxed except in times of crisis. The media will look high and low and even ambush people hoping to get some unauthorized sound bite, but everyone employed by the university is probably on clamp down.</p>
<p>and most companies and organizations also have crisis management teams that address actual crises like threats, incidents of violence as occurred at PSU. Seems they have the clamp down part of managing crises down pat. Managing and addressing real crises impacting people, not so much.</p>
<p>^^probably. It would depend on their who runs their communications office and their preference how media requests or public speaking would be handled. There are variations everywhere.</p>
<p>“Perhaps because they have been instructed by university lawyers not to talk.”</p>
<p>You really think all those tenured professors (many of whom have hated football for years) are such a bunch of cows? (It sounds like you might be right.)</p>
<p>I’m glad they’ve taken away the Professor Emeritus’ football tickets.</p>
<p>Oh please, unless someone comes and says yes, I have proof about something that happened in the past, what is the point of a clamp down? This is turning into a PR nightmare. The trustees are living in an insular world. It seems like they blame this on the media, when it was not the media’s fault. If they think this will go away, they are wrong. The Department of Education is looking at the Clery law violations. There will be civil suits. The NCAA clearly wants some penalty.</p>
<p>Momof3 – tenured professors live in a different world than most employees</p>
<p>It’s absolutely disgusting and puzzling of what Sandusky did really. I use the word puzzling partially because what person with the right mind would do something like that?</p>
<p>Amazing what a quick Google search will find.<br>
Evidently at least 1 faculty member has talked. Not sure if she is designated spokesperson or not.</p>
<p>This is very common and not unexpected when there are legal ramifications which is why you see the same sound bites over and over and the media are grabbing each other’s comments.</p>