Rally at Penn State calls for president's resignation
by Jessica Tully, rssfeeds.usatoday.comNovember 30th -0001
University Park, Pa. -- A crowd of about 350 packed the lawn of Penn State's administration building Saturday as alumni, faculty and students demanded the resignations of Gov. Tom Corbett, President Rodney Erickson and members of the Board of Trustees.
The Old Main building was the site for Saturday morning's "Rally for Resignation," which was organized by a group of alumni who are unhappy with the university's handling of the events surrounding the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal, as well as the board's firing of football coach Joe Paterno last fall.
A few protesters held signs with messages such as "Resign Now!!" and "Remember, remember the ninth of November," the day Paterno was fired. Nearly every person in the crowd also sported T-shirts containing messages such as "Fire 'em all" and "The Freeh report is a lie."
Standing next to a cardboard cutout of his former coach, former Penn State star running back Franco Harris asked the crowd why the board of trustees wasn't present at the morning's rally. In response, one man shouted, "We're not press worthy,' which drew a round of applause from the group.
Harris, frequently interrupted by applause and supportive shrieks, spoke of Paterno's firing in the wake of the Sandusky case and maintained that the former head football coach was denied his right to due process.
"Penn State has stood for 160 years, but it only took one night for the Board of Trustees to lay a path of destruction," Harris said.
Upon one mention of the NCAA, which issued penalties in July that could cripple the Penn State football for years to come, hundreds of people began to boo. Harris concluded his speech by offering support to the football team in its game against Navy on Saturday afternoon.
Trustee Anthony Lubrano, an outspoken critic of the board who was elected to serve this spring, urged the alumni to keep their enthusiasm and channel it in the form of letters and phone calls to elect more people who are critical of the board that fired Paterno.
In an interview after the rally, Larry Schultz, of Berkeley Springs, W.Va., and one of the organizers of the event, summed up the frustration.
"I don't know what is really going on because they don't tell us," Schultz, a 1980 Penn State graduate said, pointing at the university's administration building. "All I know is I don't want those people in charge."
Original Page: http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories/~3/9Qo4nvV9eCI/1
Shared from Pocket
Victor Cuvo, Attorney at Law
No comments:
Post a Comment