Penn State faculty senate votes down no confidence against Board of Trustees
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Penn State President Rodney Erickson addresses members of the faculty senate on Tuesday.
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- They spoke eloquently of the child-sex scandal on their campus and of their clear frustration with the state of governance at Penn State University and how that role is shared -- or not shared -- with faculty.
But in the end, faculty senate members said abandoning support of the embattled 32-member board of trustees was not the answer amid the continuing crisis. The elected body on Tuesday voted down a proposed resolution of no confidence by a more than 2-to-1 margin, with 128 senators voting against the measure and 58 voting for it.
Some senators who attended the nearly three-hour -- and, at times, emotional -- meeting in the Kern Graduate Building said afterward that members may have been swayed by overtures made by the board in recent days as well as by public statements in which trustees last week appeared to accept some blame for their response to child sex allegations involving former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.
PG VIDEO"If they are willing to acknowledge mistakes and look for changes and vehicles of change, who are we to say otherwise?" said Jean Landa Pytel, a senator from the College of Engineering. "We're all unhappy with what's been going on. But that doesn't mean we should set up a situation where we can't work with the board of trustees."
The no-confidence resolution was introduced by Anthony Ambrose, a medical college physician. He said the Sandusky scandal had left Penn State's reputation "publicly and seriously defiled." His resolution asked for a vote of no confidence in the board's ability, "as presently constituted, to perform its statutory duties."
His resolution gained favor with those who contend the trustees were caught unprepared for the fallout from Mr. Sandusky's arrest on charges he sexually abused 10 boys, including one incident in an athletic facility shower in 2002 that was never reported to law enforcement.
One alumni group pushing for a change of the board's structure told the Senate that more than 2,000 petition signatures in support of Dr. Ambrose's resolution had been collected so far.
Dr. Ambrose could not be reached for comment after the vote.
Among the senators not comfortable with the no-confidence resolution was Tramble Turner, an associate professor of English at Penn State's Abington campus. He said working with individual board members to find common ground "seems a more fruitful path."
Mr. Turner said there had been efforts at outreach to faculty beyond Friday's announcement by Karen Peetz, the board's new chairman, that trustees were interested in participating in Tuesday's Faculty Senate meeting. They canceled those plans after the death Sunday of Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, who was fired in November by board members who said he should have done more to alert authorities when told of the 2002 campus incident.
"Many of us who have been with the university a long time know that up until 10 or 12 years ago -- once or twice a year -- some Senate [members] or all Senate [members] were invited to meet with the board and the president," Mr. Turner said. "At this past Thursday and Friday's board meeting, that happened again."
He said the trustees committed to holding such meetings on an ongoing basis.
The reception with board members and trustees took place at the Nittany Lion Inn and gave the opportunity to express concerns one-on-one, said Ms. Pytel, an assistant dean and associate professor.
"I, for example, raised the concern that as a community we need to be better informed about what the board of trustees does, how they deliberate, make decisions, what their responsibilities are and that perhaps we need a faculty member on the board," she said.
Should it be a voting or nonvoting faculty member? "That's a detail I haven't thought of," Ms. Pytel said.
Tuesday's vote gives the administration of Penn State President Rodney Erickson some breathing room as he attempts to calm a restive faculty. But there are plenty of signs that frustration levels remain high.
As the senate debated wording changes to another resolution urging more outside representation on a task force overseeing an investigation of Penn State's handling of the Sandusky matter, Senator Victor Brunsden from the Altoona campus rose and suggested that what's more important is that the Senate make sure it involves itself in a governance review.
"If this body is about shared governance, then we need, by God, to govern," he said.
During Tuesday's meeting, Senate members also said they want to create a special committee to explore the trustees' structure and compare it to other universities. Senate Chairman Daniel Hagen said he will create such a panel with an eye toward presenting its findings to the trustees.
First Published January 25, 2012 12:00 am
