This morning, former FBI Director Louis
Freeh issued the
findings
of his investigation into Penn State’s handling of sex abuse complaints
involving former football coach Jerry Sandusky.
The 267 page report concluded that “the most senior leaders at Penn State”
demonstrated “total and consistent
disregard for the safety and welfare of Sandusky’s child victims.” These
four “powerful people” (President
Graham Spanier, Senior VP Gary Schultz, Athletic Director Time Curley and Head
Football Coach Joe Paterno) “failed to
protect against a child sexual predator harming children for over a decade”,
concealing “Sandusky’s activities from
the Board of Trustees, the University community, and authorities”,
exhibiting a “striking lack of empathy
for the victims”… “in order to avoid the consequences of bad publicity”.
The report criticizes the PSU Board’s
failure to exercise oversight, create a climate that fostered accountability, have
procedures or structures to address organizational risks, and make reasonable
inquiries into the matter when it was reported in local news in March 2011. The
Board was found to be “over-confident in
Spanier’s abilities to handle crises and was unprepared to deal with the filing
of criminal charges against University officials in November, 2011… and the
firing of Coach Paterno.”
“From
1998-2011, Penn State’s ‘Tone at the Top’ for transparency, compliance, police
reporting and child protection was completely wrong, as shown by the inaction
and concealment on the part of its most senior leaders , and followed by those
at the bottom of the university’s pyramid of power. This is best reflected by
the janitor’s decision not to report Sandusky’s horrific 2000 sexual assault of
a young boy in the Lasch Building shower. The janitors were afraid of being
fired for reporting a powerful football coach.”
It cites former President Spanier for “discouraging discussion and dissent” and
notes a “lack of awareness of child abuse
issues, the Clery Act, and whistleblower policies and protections”. (The
1990 Clery Act involves campus security policies and the reporting of crime
statistics). The football program enjoyed an elite status on campus and “didn’t fully participate in, or opted out
of, some university programs, including Clery Act compliance”.
The report concludes with 120
recommendations involving structures, policies and procedures to protect
children, increase legal and regulatory compliance, strengthen the Board and
improve administrative processes. It notes, however, that the largest and
perhaps most difficult change involved that of culture “that contributed to the failure of Penn state’s most powerful leaders
to adequately report and respond to the actions of a serial sexual predator.” While
the University’s culture has many laudable aspects such as collegiality, high
standards of educational and research excellence, the report notes “an over emphasis on ‘The Penn State Way’ as
an approach to decision making, as resistance to seeking outside perspectives,
and an excessive focus on athletics that can, if not recognized, negatively
impact the University’s reputation as a progressive institution.” PSU
should engage stakeholders, peer institutions, and outside experts in ethics
and communications to conduct a review of its culture, which “may well demand further changes” at the
University.
The Freeh report is painstakingly
constructed and painful to read. It offers a cautionary tale for all of us
involved in organizational governance. Fortunately though, it also offers a
blueprint for strengthening institutions and mitigating future risk.
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