The NCAA has announced the settlement of a lawsuit over sanctions against Penn State, which were levied over the Jerry Sandusky child abuse scandal.
The lawsuit brought by Senator Jake Corman, the Republican majority leader in the Pennsylvania senate, sought to stop payment of a $60m fine levied on the college by the governing body of college sports. The settlement announced on Friday sees the university agree to commit $60m to “activities and programmes for the prevention of child sexual abuse and the treatment of victims of child sexual abuse”.
It also ensures the university will retain the services of the former US senator George Mitchell to “support … in the areas of compliance, ethics and integrity” and, perhaps most importantly to fervent fans of the college football powerhouse, restores 112 Penn State victories between 1998 and 2011.
Harris Pastides, president of the University of South Carolina and an NCAA board member, said: “Continuing this litigation would further delay the distribution of funds to help child sexual abuse survivors for years, undermining the very intent of the fine. While others will focus on the return of the wins, our top priority is on protecting, educating and nurturing young people.”
Using Twitter, Senator Corman – a Penn State graduate – said: “Today is a victory for due process. Today is a victory for the people of Pennsylvania. Today is a victory for Penn State nation.”
In October 2012 Sandusky, a former Penn State football coach, was sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison, having been found guilty of 45 counts of child sexual abuse. Allegations against him reaching back to 1998 had been made public in October 2011, sparking a scandal over the university’s failure to address them and leading to the firing of the university’s long-serving and widely beloved head coach, Joe Paterno.
After Paterno died, of cancer at the age of 85 in March 2012, the board of Penn State trustees said his dismissal had been for “failures of leadership”, having failed to inform police of allegations against Sandusky.
In June 2012, a Penn State report found that Paterno and three other senior university figures concealed Sandusky’s actions. The following month the NCAA levied the $60m fine, reduced scholarships, took away all Paterno’s victories from 1998 to 2011 (and one under Tom Bradley) and banned Penn State from postseason bowl games for four years.
Paterno is now once again officially the owner of 409 victories, making him the most successful coach in college football history.
Among a number of controversies over the coach’s legacy and standing following the Sandusky revelations, a statue of Paterno was removed from its place outside the university stadium. On Friday, Senator Corman said he felt the statue should be returned.
Paterno’s family is suing the NCAA. On Friday, the family released a statement which said: “Today is a great victory for everyone who has fought for the truth in the Sandusky tragedy” and added: “This case should always have been about the pursuit of the truth, not the unjust vilification of the culture of a great institution and the scapegoating of coaches, players and administrators who were never given a chance to defend themselves.”
The NCAA’s authority to punish Paterno and others at Penn State has been contested – the settlement announcement included a clause which said: “Penn State acknowledges the NCAA’s legitimate and good faith, interest and concern regarding the Jerry Sandusky matter.”
The Paterno family, however, said: “For nearly three years, everyone associated with Penn State has had to bear the mark of shame placed upon the institution by the NCAA. It was a grievously wrong action, precipitated by panic, rather than a thoughtful and careful examination of the facts.
“Through our pending litigation, we intend to continue the job of uncovering the full truth in this case.”
