In June 2012, Jerry Sandusky was found guilty of 45 counts of sexual abuse of 10 boys. He was sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison. Sandusky was an assistant coach (reporting to Paterno) of football at Pennsylvania State University. Sandusky’s arrest and conviction shocked the world of college athletics because of the severity of his crimes and the extent to which he may have been enabled by others. Beyond Sandusky, the case opened up investigations into how much university administrators and head coach (reporting to the Athletic Director) Joe Paterno knew about Sandusky’s criminal activity, and whether or not they knowingly covered it up. Paterno was the most victorious coach in the history of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) football program and it generated over $60,000,000 per year (2012) in revenue for the school.

He was much beloved by Penn State fans, students, and alumni. While Sandusky clearly did wrong, many supporters did not want to see Paterno’s legacy tarnished. Paterno died from lung cancer at the age of 85 in January 2012, before Sandusky’s trial began. Prior to his death, in his final interview, Paterno described an incident involving Sandusky: Graduate assistant (reported to Sandusky) Mike McQueary informed Paterno that he had seen Sandusky in an inappropriate position with a boy in the locker room showers in 2001. Paterno said he was not sure what to do in the situation. He stated, “I wanted to make sure I knew what I was doing. And then I called my superiors and I said ‘Hey we got a problem, I think. Would you guys look into it?’ ‘Cause I didn’t know, you know… I had never had to deal with something like that. And I didn’t feel adequate.” When asked if he knew anything about a 1998 police investigation into Sandusky’s activities, Paterno responded, “I had never heard a thing.” An investigation into Penn State’s actions around Sandusky found that Penn State leaders showed “total and consistent disregard” for victims and covered up the assaults of a serial sexual predator as early as 1998.

The investigation named Paterno, as well as university president (reports to the Board of Trustees) Graham Spanier, senior vice president for finance and business (reports to the President) Gary Schultz, and athletic director (reports to the senior vice president) Tim Curley. In a separate 2016 lawsuit against Penn State, testimony by a victim of Sandusky indicated that Paterno knew of abuse as far back as 1976. Although the university reached a settlement with this victim, the evidence was not verified. Penn State president Eric Barron stated, “[It] also is important to reiterate that the alleged knowledge of former Penn State employees is not proved, and should not be treated as such. Some individuals deny the claims, and others are unable to defend themselves.” Although Paterno’s exact role in allegations of cover-up remain debated, many supporters and family still wish to clear his name from any possible wrongdoing.

Jay Paterno, Joe Paterno’s son, joined Penn State’s board, in part, to defend the legacy of his father. He stated, “At some point the administration needs to say, ‘We got it wrong,’.” Paterno continued, “The fact that my dad was unaware of what Jerry was, that shouldn’t be a scarlet letter.”

While Penn State removed Paterno’s statue from the campus in 2012, the university commemorated the 50th anniversary of his first game as coach with a celebration in 2016. Some students disagree with the continued commemoration of Paterno. In an op-ed in the student newspaper that reflected the opinion of several editors at the paper, student Lauren Davis wrote that the university “needed a reality check” after its announcement of the 2016 commemoration. She wrote, “This is our Penn State. It is a Penn State without Joe Paterno.” She added, “Those of us here now are beyond ready to move on.” Davis received hundreds of emails and comments, mostly negative and many written by alumni. She was called an idiot, a “clueless treacherous traitor,” and worse. One person wrote to her, “I hope God can forgive you for your actions, I sure the hell can’t.” Penn State reported that, as of January 2018, the university has paid a total of over $109 million in settlements to Sandusky’s victims. In addition, the Penn State football program today brings in more money that the past. In 2017, Spanier, Curley, and Schultz were sentenced to varying terms of imprisonment, probation, and fines. While debates about Paterno’s legacy continue at Penn State, many victims and their supporters believe these debates do little to heal wounds. Alycia Chambers, a psychologist whose 1998 report on Sandusky was ignored by police, stated, “All of this is hurtful to the victims. … People are too concerned about a dead man’s reputation and not thinking about what it would feel like to be a survivor of child abuse.” She continued, “He was a human being. He had a generous spirit. He did many good things. … But he was a human, not a saint.” In a statement before he was fired in 2011, Paterno said, “This is a tragedy. It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more.”

Former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was found guilty of sexually abusing 10 boys during his time at Penn State. While Sandusky clearly did wrong, his case opened up investigations into how much he was enabled by other people who knew about his criminal activity and whether or not those people knowingly covered it up. While these others may have considered themselves good people, their moral sense was clearly bounded. Whether blinded by ethical fading, biased by the self-serving bias, constrained by groupthink, or misled by framing, men such as head coach Joe Paterno and university president Graham Spanier made decisions and took actions that placed the temporary interests of the football team and of the university ahead of the safety of children. They likely did not understand how these various forces caused their ethicality to be constrained.

1) From an organizational structure perspective - describe the roles of Mcquerty, Sandusky, Paterno, Curely, Shultz and Spanier and tell us what the chain of command was at Penn State during this time (note, we have two distinct groups (athletics and leadership) in this list of employees). We need to see who the supervisors were for these employees of Penn State and what Authority and Accountability they had for their staff and people in their care. You may need to do research to find out who the supervisors were and who they supervised. Reference all of your research.

2) Imagine you were in a leadership role facing a similar scenario today as you found there was similar behavior in your workforce. Using the PESTEL approach describe the General Environment as it relates to post-secondary institutes (completed all six elements of PESTEL). Which components in the PESTEL would be most relevant as it relates to this scenario. Justify your response and provide specific examples/research to support your claims.

3) The President of the Penn State made decisions that allowed the behavior to continue. Describe the Decision-Making Bias/Errors (identify 3) you feel had the greatest influence on the President's decision making. Justify your response for each. Select from the bias/errors in the course text.

4) Now that you have reflected on poor decision making and how they impact others, what decision making bias's do you feel have impacted your decisions making in the past? Choose two biases/errors, from your past, from the course text and provide specific examples illustrating how these have been evident in your life.

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

1 From an organizational structure perspective Mike McQueary Mike McQueary was a graduate assistant at Penn State and reported to Jerry Sandusky in his role as an assistant coach In the chain of comma... View the full answer