CORBETT & SURMA - UNCOMMONLY COMPLETE CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

WHO REPRESENTED PENN STATE'S BEST INTERESTS IN NOV. 2011?

PART ONE - THE MAJOR CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

“In general, the most conventional form of a conflict of interest involves money—typically, an institutional decision maker has some kind of financial stake in the outcome of the decision.  A conflict can also arise when the decision maker has a non-monetary stake in the outcome of a decision—for example, a personal relationship, prestige, or career advancement.” 

by Barry Bozeman

Tom Corbett Embarrassed Trustee

Tom Corbett served as Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania from 2004 until he assumed office as Governor on January 18, 2011.

The Governor is automatically placed on the Penn State Board of Trustees. He also appoints six (6) members, in addition to his choices for PA Secretaries of Education, Conservation, and Agriculture, who sit on the Board along with a non-voting personal representative. This block of Trustees depends on the Governor for their positions, effectively making him the single most powerful presence in both voting power and influence.


Six (6) members of the Board are known as Business and Industry Trustees. These members are "self -selected" by an arcane procedure far from being transparent or apparent to those outside the process. Another six (6) members of the Board are known as Agriculture Trustees, who are selected through a county-by-county vote of the Commonwealth's agricultural societies (i.e., the PA Grange and the PA Farm Bureau).  We will discuss the business relationships of most of these members and the influence the Governor holds over them in our next installment.

Nine (9) members are elected by Alumni, the most independent and democratically selected group. That's only 9 members to attempt to balance 11 of the Governor's directly controlled members plus 6 each from Business & Industry and from Agriculture.

The elected Trustees include Joel Myers, CEO of Accuweather, and Jesse Arnelle, an attorney, who both serve now as they did in 2011 -- when they supported the disastrous decisions on November 9th. In addition, Cynthia Baldwin -- the Penn State attorney who sat in on the Grand Jury testimonies of Tim Curley, Gary Schultz, and Graham Spanier and who "claims" she was representing Penn State even though she gave them the impression she was representing them -- is an emeritus member of the Board of Trustees. There are 19 non-voting Emeritus Trustees. 

President Graham Spanier was the 33rd member of the Board on Nov 9, 2011, and the only board member who spoke out in defense of Penn State when he urged fellow members to stand behind Coach Paterno, Tim Curley, and Gary Schultz. Thus, Graham Spanier was the only member who stood publicly for what was right; and they fired him for it, in large part due to Tom Corbett's personal animosity for this political opponent.



Graham Spanier with Joe Paterno

A statement from Spanier called the allegations against Sandusky "troubling" and added that Curley and Schultz had his unconditional support.  He predicted they will be exonerated. "I have known and worked daily with Tim and Gary for more than 16 years," Spanier said. "I have complete confidence in how they handled the allegations......" 

As of today, the trials of Curley, Schultz, and Spanier seem to be on indefinite hold, as the Commonwealth's case appears to be falling apart.  

An argument can be made that, in addition to the 11 of 33 members of the Board of Trustees who are directly controlled by the Governor, an additional 11 or 12 Trustees have business interests that are significantly impacted by the actions of Commonwealth government.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST described:

Conflicts of interest occur when an officeholder puts his or her personal or financial interest ahead of the public interest. In the simplest terms, the official reaps a monetary or other reward from a decision made in his or her public capacity.

PENN STATE University Bylaws specifically state the rules concerning Conflicts of Interest:

READ THAT FIRST SENTENCE UNDER (a) AGAIN:  

Are you a reasonable observer?   Yes, of course.

Do you have sufficient knowledge of relevant facts and circumstances?  All I need is in this weblog.

Do you not see an actual or apparent conflict of interest?  I would have to be blind to miss it.

There is no question that John Surma had a specifically addressed "conflict of interest" when it came to Coach Joe Paterno. The Bylaws specifically state that conflicts of interest extend to family, friends, and associates. John's brother, Victor J. Surma, made this statement on a message board for PSU football players: 

 Victor Surma <vsurma8215@> wrote: “The Rat has hurt so many young men; destroyed their self esteem, ruined their confidence, etc.  I feel it is my obligation to expose his fraud to the national media before he checks out. I'm starting with the Pittsburgh Reporter and hope to take his fraud national!! I hope you understand. I was a 3 year letterman–have no axe to grind–just want to set the record straight on the RATS legacy.

There is no question that John Surma's brother, Victor J. Surma, wanted to expose Joe Paterno as a fraud. So John Surma did not have to share his brother's antipathy for Joe Paterno in order to violate the bylaw concerning a conflict of interest. Since Victor Surma had an interest in seeing Joe Paterno exposed as a fraud, his brother John Surma had no choice but to step aside. He was obligated by the Bylaws to recuse himself -- to leave the meeting while the matter was discussed. We know from previous entries on this website -- including THE SURMA VENDETTA, Part II, and The Surma Vendetta Revisited -- that John Surma indeed shared his brother's antipathy toward Joe Paterno, making him ineligible to attend, much less chair, any meeting concerning Joe Paterno.

Board Chairman Steve Garban recused himself from the discussion. He considered his history as a former football player under Paterno to be conflict enough.  John Surma not only failed to recuse himself, but this Vice-Chairman  took over as Chair and presided over a meeting he should, per the bylaws, have left.

The most common conflicts of interest concern monetary or other financial rewards but that is not the only type of conflict. Political influence and personal antipathy also result in conflicts of interest. Although the conflicts we are going to reveal here are primarily about political influence and personal antipathy, there is a monetary aspect that will be discussed in the next edition of this series.

Let's try to make this as clear and simple as possible:  Tom Corbett, as Attorney General, initiated the investigation of Jerry Sandusky with the convening of a Grand Jury in 2009. That Grand Jury process, directly managed by Tom Corbett, heard the testimony that resulted in the indictments of Jerry Sandusky, Penn State AD Tim Curley, and VP Gary Schultz. The indictments of Curley and Schultz, along with the inclusion of Coach Joe Paterno and the later indictment of President Graham Spanier, made this case into the PENN STATE CHILD SEX SCANDAL. For two years, Corbett ran the investigation and controlled the flow of testimony to the Grand Jury that eventually resulted in extreme damage to the reputation of Penn State and a massive cost of over $200 million.

In January 2011, Corbett was sworn in as Governor and assumed his role as PSU Board Member, along with the power to appoint 9 voting and 2 non-voting positions on that Board.  That created a situation whereby 11 of 33 members were directly beholden to Corbett for their positions on that Board.

The Board of Trustees is the official voice of Penn State University, which has been given the responsibility of protecting the best interests of Penn State on behalf of the students, alumni, faculty, and staff.  Then came the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania indictments against Athletic Director Tim Curley, Vice President Gary Schultz, and eventually President Graham Spanier -- and by association and involvement, head coach Joe Paterno. These are significant employees of Penn State University, and their guilt or innocence directly affects the liability of Penn State for any actions they may have taken. For all legal intent, they are Penn State, under attack by Tom Corbett's utilization of the grand jury process.

Attorney General Tom Corbett's grand jury crafted the indictments, making him the person most responsible for the Commonwealth's case against Penn State.  Governor Tom Corbett controls the largest block of Trustees, making him the person most responsible for protecting Penn State from his indictments. Has there ever been a clearer conflict? 

How is it possible that this Governor and his appointees, along with every Trustee whose business interests are affected by his decisions as Governor, did not immediately exclude themselves from taking part in deliberations concerning the decisions made in November of 2011 and anything subsequent concerning the Grand Jury Presentment and indictments?

People seem to think this Board of Trustees is too big and too independent to be controlled by one or two members. But, with John Surma taking over for Steve Garban as Chairman and with Tom Corbett's direct control of one-third of the Board and indirect control over another group of members as a result of the impact of Commonwealth decisions on their business interests, it didn't take much to exercise control. All Corbett had to do was to whisper to key members that the Presentment was just the tip of some legal iceberg. Would "WMD" hidden all over the campus be discovered if they failed to preemptively remove Paterno and Spanier? Who wouldn't believe that Corbett, as Attorney General, would know where all the "yellow cake" was buried?

All that a truly independent Board of Trustees needed to do was to make a statement saying that Penn State would cooperate with any investigation and then wait until the legal process was complete. The employees of Penn State are innocent until proven guilty; and that guilt or innocence should decide to a great extent what, if any, liability Penn State has in this matter. Jerry Sandusky had not been an employee of Penn State for 11 years, and the only charges involving dates during his years employed at Penn State had been investigated in 1998 by the Commonwealth's Department of Public Welfare. The preemptive virtual acceptance of guilt by the Board would do nothing to stem the tide of damaging publicity that gave the meeting of November 9, 2011 the aura of a major crisis.

Information we are now seeing revealed in the information provided by Ryan Bagwell, a candidate for Trustee (picture left) - particularly the messages concerning any attempt to honor Coach Paterno's legacy - were nixed by Penn State's CONFLICTED BOARD OF TRAITORS.

Tom Corbett and Ken Frazier engineered the hiring of the FREEH Fiction writer and former FBI director over a more palatable alternative. Emails reveal that Corbett spoke with Attorney General Linda Kelly regarding the investigative task force. This collusion between Corbett and the prosecutors in going after Penn State administrators resulted in the hiring of Louis Freeh, who became a support source for those directly accusing Penn State of being liable for damages.  

Nobody was looking out for the best interests of Penn State with the hiring of Louis Freeh, and what a complete disaster that turned out to be! This CONFLICTED Board actually voted to pay out $6.5 million Penn State dollars to a man who might as well have led Penn State to the gallows and fixed the rope around its neck. The Freeh Report supports the actions of Tom Corbett, John Surma, and the Board of Trustees and is, on its face, a paid cover up justifying the gross malfeasance of the Board's decision. Freeh was no independent investigator out to find the truth. Freeh was a paid operative of the Board and the Governor, in collusion with the Attorney General, out to condemn Penn State -- a hit job he did with gusto, despite obvious ineptitude. The Board repaid his effort by accepting the "report" without even bothering to read and review its contents. The NCAA then swallowed it whole and spit out sanctions that cost Penn State even more in money and damage to its impeccable reputation.

Freeh's hiring is synonymous with an institution paying $6.5 million to concoct evidence supporting its own guilt and liability. Why would any institution in its right mind fund such an effort? It's insanity, clearly demonstrating the conflicted interests that are the point of this article. The Freeh insanity depicts Penn State as a schizophrenic trying to convict itself of a crime imagined in the fevered mind of its "leaders."  Penn State's duty was to hire an investigator charged with finding every shred of exculpatory evidence that would clear Penn State of any liability. That was what would have been in the best interest of Penn State. That was the fiduciary duty of each member of this Board of Trustees.

At this point, the chance of the Commonwealth convicting any Penn State administrator of any wrong-doing is negligible. With Mike McQueary and Cynthia Baldwin as the only possible witnesses for the prosecution, the only mystery is why the Attorney General has not already dismissed the charges. When that ends, Penn State will still be out millions in liability costs and millions more in an insane Freeh "investigation" and the resulting NCAA sanctions. That makes the 2011 Board of Trustees either terminally inferior or criminally culpable. With no convictions of anyone employed by Penn State, any liability on the part of the university for Sandusky's crimes would be minimal. When Graham Spanier wins his defamation suit against Louis Freeh, the insanity of the 2011 Board's decisions will become a national joke.

Al Clemens, a Gubernatorial appointee in 2011 resigned from the Board in early March with some dignity, making a public statement about the firing of Joe Paterno:

"That was a mistake. I will always regret that my name is attached to that rush to injustice.  Hiring Louis Freeh and the tacit acceptance of his questionable conclusions, without review, along with his broad criticism of our Penn State culture was yet another mistake."

At least one member of that board was wise enough to come to his senses and honest enough to state the TRUTH.

When it comes to conflict of interest violations of the Board's own bylaws, the Paterno and Spanier firing decisions that have caused such unprecedented damage were clearly done in violation of those bylaws. Is there no penalty or redress for such obvious violations? What is the remedy for violating those bylaws? If Penn State was liable for damages to Sandusky's victims, who is liable for the damages to Penn State?  Since John Surma was an employee of US Steel,  Karen Peetz was an employee of BNY Mellon, and Ken Frazier was an employee of Merck Pharmaceuticals, perhaps those companies should hire Louis Freeh to investigate their liability?

This article should leave you with a clear obligation. Penn State needs to elect trustees who will not sweep these terrible mistakes by conflicted members of the Board under the rug. Electing the Upward State slate of candidates will only condone the damage done by Surma, Corbett, and the Board of November 2011.  For Penn State to rectify the damage done, the election of candidates like Ryan Bagwell, Robert Jubelirer, Al Lord, and Alice Pope is absolutely essential.

As a PSU Board candidate, Bob Jubelirer said in a recent statement: "Former Trustee Al Clemens showed leadership by acknowledging his terrible mistake in rushing to judgment and voting to fire Coach Paterno on November 9, 2011.  I believe the time will come soon when more trustees will join Clemens in recognizing their rush to judgment and uniting Penn State nation together again." We couldn't agree more, Bob.  Those 2011 Trustees need to be held accountable for their actions. 

PICTURES OF THE TRUSTEES with their affiliations are available at this LINK
So take a look at the current Board of Trustees:

COMING SOON:

PART II -  IT WAS CONFLICT, NOT CRISIS, THAT DROVE BOARD DECISIONS

Did Tom Corbett know Mike McQueary was coerced to support the false assertion that he had witnessed an anal rape?

Did Corbett support a deal to give immunity to Mike for gambling on Penn State football games?

How far was Corbett willing to go to get rid of Graham Spanier?

The Penn State University BOARD OF TRAITORS

By Barry Bozeman

Who are these exceptional men and women granted the honor of serving as Trustees of the great institution of higher learning known as The Pennsylvania State University? Who are these successful businessmen and women who rose to positions of power and prominence and were chosen to safeguard the reputation and financial resources of one of the finest institutions in the land? 

What manner of leader would fail to stand up for the integrity and honor signified by the Nittany Lion and the motto: Making Life Better? What Trustee would capitulate to a Presentment before trial and accept blame prior to judgment or liability for the actions of a former employee 11 years in the past?  If anyone attacks an institution you are entrusted to defend and protect, what will you expect if you lie down and surrender before the legal process indicates any fault or blame? Where is there any "SUCCESS WITH HONOR" in that cowardly rush to injustice? 

In the face of a media tsunami of bad publicity, these cowards and turncoats chose to surrender any claim to right action and accepted blame on behalf of the University based on a Presentment containing the lie that one of their assistant coaches had witnessed a sexual assault on the campus by a former employee. They chose to accept the claim that two administrators and their football coach conspired to cover up this assault based on various flimsy accounts by a possibly damaged and compromised assistant coach.  What do we call such people?  

trai·tor   noun

1.  a person who betrays a friend, country, principle, ALMA MATER etc.

"they see me as a traitor, a sellout to the enemy"

synonyms:       betrayer, backstabber, double-crosser, renegade, fifth columnist; turncoat, defector, deserter; collaborator, informer, mole, snitch, double agent; Judas, Benedict Arnold, quisling;

informal snake in the grass, two-timer, rat, scab, fink

"convicted traitors will be executed"

Isn’t TRAITOR the proper word for the members of The PSU Board of Trustees in their handling of the all out attack on the university they are elected and selected to protect and serve?

This particular Board of Trustees – particularly the Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, John Surma, Karen Peetz, Ira Lubert, and Kenneth Frazier, to name only a few – has “served” Penn State University by abandoning the President they hired, Graham Spanier, Vice President Gary Schultz, and Athletic Director Tim Curley, and condemning them as guilty along with the world famous icon and Coach Joe Paterno on the basis of a Presentment, a document that makes the best case for an indictment by a grand jury without any cross examination of witnesses, exculpatory evidence, or questioning by defense counsel. 

They fired Coach Joe Paterno – a man who had brought nothing but honor to the job for which he was hired and praise for the manner in which he conducted himself and the successful football program that brought honor and positive recognition to the university he served. No single individual was more the well regarded  face of Penn State or such an asset in terms of positive recognition.  Joe Paterno is worth 100 John Surmas, Karen Peetzes, or Ken Fraziers.   

Their capitulation to the media and fear of “bad publicity” led them to make disastrous decisions concerning the financial well being of the University by paying out millions of dollars to victims of Jerry Sandusky that had nothing to do with anything involving Penn State

On the advice of the Governor, they hired his feckless hitman, Louis Freeh, and accepted a report blaming their administrators and football coach for a conspiracy to cover up for Jerry Sandusky on “evidence” that anyone with minimal cognitive ability would reject out of hand. The Freeh investigators never even questioned Mike McQueary, Coach Paterno, Gary Schultz, or Tim Curley. The Board accepted this report in total without any review or question within hours of its release. They did not even read it. That's unbelievable and unforgivable. 

This group of men and women failed at every turn to do even the minimum to protect the reputation and financial well being of the university they were sworn to protect. With protectors like this, Penn State did not require enemies.

Under the guise of “MOVING ON,” this Board of Traitors chose to throw their university under the bus. In the face of a tsunami of bad publicity brought on by Linda Kelly's presentment of lies and half truths, they decided prior to trial that Graham Spanier, Tim Curley and Gary Schultz were guilty. 

Although they had every right and reason to defer judgment until the facts were in and the legal process had run its course, they decided to play judge and jury themselves and operate as if the deceptions and lies of the Freeh report and the Kelly indictments and Presentment were unassailable facts despite every indication that the evidence against Spanier, Curley, and Schultz was dependent on the word of an assistant coach whose story kept changing and whose character is probably seriously flawed. His recollection of events 10 years in the past (OR was it 11?) was accepted as truth. He did not even get the year or month right. 

WHAT BENEFIT WAS GAINED BY THIS RUSH TO CAPITULATE?

The alumni and students of Penn State University have every reason to rid themselves of this Board of Traitors and to sue them for a breach of responsibility. Their failure to stand up for and protect the university from this attack by the media and the OAG is unpardonable. There is no indication that their premature capitulation would have any benefit to the university in the event Spanier, Curley, and Schultz were eventually found guilty of the charges brought by the OAG.

If these business leaders ran their corporations and financial institutions like they ran the Board of Trustees, they would be bankrupt and competitors would be lining up to take them to the cleaners. If they are willing to pay out millions and accept guilt on the basis of flimsy accusations and the thin "evidence" of the Freeh Fiction, their businesses would be beset with frivolous lawsuits. 

Why would the BOTraitors accept the word of Mike McQueary over the words of Coach Paterno, President Spanier,  VP Schultz, or AD Curley?  What possessed them?  What advantage can they claim for this capitulation prior to trial and verdict? 

It seems their best explanation is a desire to “put this behind them” no matter the cost, as if choosing to accept the blame where none is due would lessen the ill effects. How could such a group of business leaders and politicians have such a collective lack of backbone or sense of reason and purpose?

Penn State is their university as well as yours. Is it not worth fighting for?  How is it Penn State's fault that Jerry Sandusky once coached football there 11 years prior to the indictment and press conference that brought this dilemma to Penn State’s door? Penn State set out to help "at risk" kids in PA by providing places for some charitable events of The Second Mile. Since when is that a crime or even a fault? How can the previous employment of a single law breaker cost the former employer 60 million dollars? 

What did Penn State do that made it responsible for 60 million dollars in settlements and millions more in lost revenue due to sanctions by the NCAA against their football program?  How could this Board of Traitors decide to accept these sanctions? Coach Paterno was never charged, much less convicted, of any wrong doing but the BOT could not wait to tear down this prime asset to Penn State, remove his statue, and erase his name. What was the cost of that decision to Penn State?

As a graduate of the University of Tennessee, I liken the value of Coach Paterno to Penn State to the value of Coach Pat Summitt of the Lady Volunteers Basketball Team to Tennessee. Coach Summitt is invaluable to Tennessee. Her name and statue grace the basketball court and the campus and bolster the image and fund raising capability of the university. Coach Paterno's image and reputation were much the same for Penn State. But this BOT erased that positive and made it a negative for Penn State when they chose to attempt to erase the connection between this honorable man and the university he loved and supported. The cost of that betrayal is impossible to calculate. 

In another personal parallel with Tennessee and Penn State, I learned that Jerry Sandusky was heavily recruited by Tennessee after high school by then coach Bowden Wyatt. Sandusky, a teetotaler, turned down the alcoholic Wyatt in favor of PSU. I often wonder what would have happened if he had set up The Second Mile here in my hometown as a Tennessee player and coach. To see Penn State so severely penalized because Sandusky was offended by alcohol is strange to me. Sandusky could have happened anywhere. I would like to think the BOT at Tennessee would have had more backbone than their counterparts at PSU. My father was a State Supreme Court Justice and gave legal advice to the board here in Knoxville as President emeritus of the Alumni Association.. Judge Bozeman would never have allowed a capitulation based on that Presentment to occur. It would be unconscionable for him to allow his university to be so damaged by such a twist of fate until all the facts were in and the legal process had run its course. That's why we have a rather ponderous legal process that requires time to unveil as much truth as can be found in an adversarial system. You wait until it's beyond all doubt that you have liability before admitting to a guilt that is this costly. The only reason to admit to something this bad is to hide something that is worse for the people who are willing to admit the guilt. So what do these PSU board members have to hide and what did they gain by damaging Penn State?

Time was never going to make the situation worse. The media tsunami was unprecedented as it was. It was clear from the beginning that there would be trials stretching out for at minimum 2 years and the story would not die until all the verdicts were in. There would be no MOVING ON or MOVING FORWARD until every aspect of this situation was resolved in a court of law and every investigation was complete. Penn State has legal counsel on retainer and a entire law school. They could not possibly believe accepting guilt and paying out millions in settlements would net them a savings in legal costs. All they did was expose themselves to further legal liability from the administrators and the family of the coach they fired.

What will this Board of Trustees' excuse be if Spanier, Curley and Schultz are acquitted or the charges against them are dismissed? How will they explain their actions if Spanier's suit against Freeh is successful? What kind of liability have they acquired for Penn State if these men choose to sue them and Penn State for the damage they did by accepting blame on their behalf?

What if the end result is no payment to McQueary on his whistleblower suit and possibly even perjury charges against him?. What happens if clear evidence of malfeasance on the part of the OAG is uncovered by the Kane or Federal investigations into this mess? There will be some BOT members who will have to answer for their stupidity. And if it turns out the Feds find Ira Lubert and his connections to the Second Mile along with the donations to the Corbett Campaign from the Second MIle influenced the decision of the board, all bets are off. If the Corporation For Penn State turns out to have been a way to line the pockets of some of these people, these Trustees may end up as trustees in Allenwood Federal Penitentiary after a few years on their sentences. Will they keep their PENN STATE LIVES HERE re-branding signs on their cells?

18 minutes into this video, Stephen Fink of Lexicon Communications Inc. a crisis management company talks about the absurd knee jerk reaction of the BOT to this crisis. Everything they did was wrong from a crisis management perspective. Everyone interested in good management of a crisis and the abject failure of the PSU BOT should watch the Stephen Fink segment of this video. Fink's closing statement is "There is nothing wrong with Penn State except for the Board of Trustees and that's what needs to be changed".

Fink shows a PENN STATE LIVES HERE card found on his pillow at a State College hotel after learning that it's part of a re-branding effort by the BOT. Fink says "Penn State has no need to re brand. There is nothing wrong with the Penn State Brand." The Board of Traitors? Well I think we can skip the re-branding of the BOT and go straight to the tar and feathers.

John Surma has left the board and Karen Peetz and Ken Frazier are on their way out. Corbett will escape when his term as Governor ends  The damage they have done will have no effect on their lives or incomes. They seem to know the best thing for them to do is to try to distance themselves from the decisions that came close to bankrupting the university after doing unprecedented damage to its reputation. They are responsible for damage that never needed to be done if they had simply waited and allowed the legal process to run its course. They had the responsibility but none of the liability. This is a dangerous situation. It cost them nothing personally to tuck tail and accept blame on the part of every student, alumni, faculty member, athlete, and employee along with the good people of State College. They go back to their 7 figure net worth and corporate board rooms with their golden parachutes. How awful is that? On a scale of 1 to 10, it's an 11.

It will take some legal expert who knows more than I do to speculate on any personal liability these board members may have for their cowardice and failure to perform faithfully the duties their exalted positions required. But they should forever be disgraced and reviled for their behavior. Cowards and traitors should never be chosen to guide a great institution like Penn State.

UPDATE:  At least one member of the Board of Trustees has seen the light. Al Clemens resigned from the Board with this apology for his part in the horrible decisions following the Linda Kelly Presentment and the Louis Freeh Report

Here’s Clemens in his own words, falling on the sword:

I have resigned from the Penn State Board of Trustees.
For most of the 18 years I served as a Trustee, I was proud to help Penn State grow and achieve its deserved stature, in both academics and athletics, as one of America’s top-rated public Universities.
On November 9th, 2011, I and my fellow Trustees, voted to fire Joe Paterno in a hastily called meeting. We had little advance notice or opportunity to discuss and consider the complex issues we faced. After 61 years of exemplary service, Coach Paterno was given no chance to respond. That was a mistake. I will always regret that my name is attached to that rush to injustice.
Hiring Louis Freeh and the tacit acceptance of his questionable conclusions, without review, along with his broad criticism of our Penn State culture was yet another mistake. In joining the Paterno family and others in their suit against the NCAA, I have distanced myself from the Board on this issue. I am determined to reverse all of the misguided sanctions which were designed to punish a football program without blemish, and were aimed at student-athletes innocent of any wrong-doing.
Over the past two years, concerned Alumni have spoken clearly and forcefully. They have replaced six incumbents with reform-minded Trustees determined to acknowledge and redress errors of judgment with positive actions. Those who believe we can move on without due process for all who have been damaged by unsupported accusations are not acting in Penn State’s best interest.
While I will continue to advocate for Penn State, I step down from the Board in keeping within the spirit of our vote for 12-year term limits. It is time for new leadership to step forward.
Penn State’s future is bright. Our President, Dr. Barron, brings him a fresh perspective, grounded in first-hand experience of the true culture of Success with Honor. We have the opportunity to move forward united in our commitment to truth.
I urge all who love Penn State’s name to fight on. WE ARE Penn State.

In the Clemens resignation and statement, we have the first real crack in BOT unity over the firing of Coach Paterno and the acceptance of the Freeh fiction. The impact of this cannot be overstated. The Paterno and Spanier firings were unanimous acts of a shell shocked Board railroaded and manipulated by the leaders, particularly Corbett and Surma who orchestrated the entire affair. With this first defection from their unanimous group, we have an opportunity to seek out other Board members from Nov 2011 and ask them to make public their apologies and regrets for what was done. The more Board members who acknowledge the mistake the better. So we appeal to anyone who has any connection to these Board members to help us and appeal to them to come forward. Maybe we can get the ball rolling with the Al Clemens statement and open up the entire situation to the scrutiny it deserves.

NOW IS THE TIME FOR BOARD MEMBERS active in Nov. 2011 to join Mr. Clemens and stand with him in condemning the actions of Nov 9, 2011. Only then will they begin to redeem themselves from the damage they caused. That act will allow us to eliminate them from The BOARD OF TRAITORS list.

We urge our readers and supporters to email the Board members and ask them to join Al Clemens in repudiating the actions of the Board in Nov 2011

Ed Hintz: edwardhintz@gmail.com

G Greig: ggreig@pa.gov

Betsy Huber: hhuber@zoominternet.net

Ira Lubert: ilubert@LubertAdler.com

Jim Broadhurst: jimbroadhurst@eatnpark.com

Joel Myers: myersj@accuweather.com

Karen Peetz: karen.peetz@bnymellon.com

Keith Eckel: fredweckelsons@epix.net

Keith Masser: kmasser@masserspuds.com

Ken Frazier: ken_frazier@merck.com

Linda Strumpf: strumpflinda@gmail.com

Marianne Alexander: marianne_alexander@yahoo.com

Mark Dambly: mdambly@pennrose.com

Paul Silvis: Paul.Silvis@restek.com

Paul Suhey: pvs6565@gmail.com

Richard Allan: rja14@psu.edu

Samuel Hayes: samhayesjr@windstream.net

Stepanie Deviney: sdeviney@foxrothschild.com

Tom Corbett: twc11@psu.edu

Ira Lubert (PSUBOT): iml2@psu.edu

G Greig (PSUBOT): gdg13@psu.edu

Jesse Arnelle (PSUBOT): hja11@psu.edu

Mark Dambly (PSUBOT): mhd15@psu.edu

Peter Khoury (PSU): pak5085@psu.edu

Paul Silvis (PSUBOT): phs4@psu.edu

Marianne Alexander (PSUBOT): mea13@psu.edu

Al Clemens (PSU): ahc12@psu.edu

Betsy Huber (PSUBOT): beh17@psu.edu

Keith Eckel (PSUBOT): kwe1@psu.edu

Carl Shaffer (PSUBOT): cts15@psu.edu

Edward Hintz (PSUBOT): erh4@psu.edu

Jim Broadhurst (PSUBOT): jsb33@psu.edu

Keith Masser (PSUBOT): kem375@psu.edu

Joel Myers (PSUBOT): jnm13@psu.edu

Ken Frazier (PSUBOT): kcf11@psu.edu

Linda Strumpf (PSUBOT): lbs16@psu.edu

Karen Peetz (PSUBOT): kbp12@psu.edu

Stephanie Deviney  sdeviney@foxrothschild.com

John Surma (PSUBOT - Nov 2011): jpsurma@uss.com

Paul Suhey: pvs6565@gmail.com

Dave Joyner (PSU): dmj14@psu.edu

Samuel Hayes: samhayesjr@windstream.net

Rodney Erickson: RAE@psu.edu; pres@psu.edu; president@psu.edu

Ronald Tomalis: rtomalis@pa.gov

Michael DiBerardinis (PSUBOT - Nov 2011): michael.diberardinis@phila.gov

Steve Garban (PSUBOT - Nov 2011): sag7@psu.edu

David Jones (PSUBOT - Nov 2011): drj13@psu.edu

Anne Riley: axr28@psu.edu

Barron Hetherington (PSUBOT - Nov 2011): brfarms@epix.net

Here at SMSS, we intend to revisit some of the information we've posted in the past two years about the Board of Trustees members and to add some new information about them, their ties to The Second Mile, their financial dealings with TSM and PSU, and anything else we uncover that may reveal the reasons they made the massive mistakes that put Penn State at such a disadvantage and cost the university so much in capital and reputation.