Penn State has reportedly been quietly to name the field at Beaver Stadium after the late head coach Joe Paterno, who became a controversial figure in his latter years due to his involvement in the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal.
Sources close to the situation told Spotlight PA that several Penn State trustees have met with “high-ranking university representatives” to privately discuss the possibility of naming the field after Paterno, which may possibly violate state law, which “requires governing bodies to conduct business in public view, and continue a decadelong pattern of the board convening behind closed doors.” The sources said that trustees have been pushing strongly for Paterno’s name on the field, while university officials have been hesitant.
Paterno was Penn State’s head football coach for 45 years and won two national championships until the board fired him in November 2011 during the Sandusky scandal.
In 2012, Sandusky was convicted on 45 counts of child sex abuse and sentenced to up to 60 years in prison. Former university President Graham Spanier, former athletic director Tim Curley, and former vice president Gary Schultz also served jail time related to the scandal. Spanier was convicted of child endangerment, a misdemeanor. Curley and Schultz pleaded guilty to the same offense.
Paterno was never charged. He died in January 2012.
The board fired Paterno in 2011 in the fallout of Jerry Sandusky, and a statue dedicated to him was removed from the football stadium. He still holds the record for most wins in NCAA football history with 409.
Penn State head coach Joe Paterno led his team onto the field before action between Penn State and Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio, on September 23, 2006. Ohio State won 28-6. (G. Newman Lowrance/WireImage)
An unnamed Penn State spokesperson wrote in an email to Spotlight PA that the “Administration and the Board of Trustees have embarked on numerous change initiatives based on President Bendapudi’s vision and goals and are focused on these priorities to continue to provide a world-class academic and student experience for years to come.”
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