Uphill climb ahead in search for Penn State president
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In ordinary times, replacing ousted President Graham Spanier -- whose intellectual sharpness, popularity and longevity as Penn State University's top administrator made him a legend in his own right -- would be a difficult job.
Now, the 32-member board of trustees faces the extraordinary task of choosing a new leader for an institution in the midst of a scandal that has deeply shaken its confidence.
But experts and insiders say the new leader will have the opportunity to reshape Penn State and perhaps to alter a culture that some have described as insular -- a criticism leveled after word broke that two top administrators were indicted for allegedly keeping quiet about a football coach sexually assaulting a boy in a campus locker room shower.
"Is somebody willing to stand up to and take on the athletic department and institute the reform that is necessary to make sure this never happens again?" asked Don Heller, a senior scientist and professor of education at the Penn State Center for the Study of Higher Education. "A president can come in and demonstrate leadership and help to heal some of the psychic wounds that the students and the faculty and alumni have been experiencing."
Mr. Spanier has not been charged, but two top university officials -- athletic director Tim Curley and vice president Gary Schultz -- were indicted. Prosecutors say they failed to report the 2002 locker room assault and later provided false information to a grand jury. Jerry Sandusky, the former football coach, is charged with sexually assaulting eight boys, two of them on campus.
"I think all of us want to figure out how to move forward," said John Cheslock, an associate professor of education at the school's Center for the Study of Higher Education who studies higher education economics. "Penn State on lots of fronts was really doing extremely well, and we can return to an upward trajectory so we can make contributions to all parts of society."
For now, former Provost Rodney Erickson is president, an appointment that inspired confidence among many faculty, Mr. Cheslock said.
First Published November 14, 2011 12:00 am
