More than 30 Penn State alumni, including former Penn State football players, were in attendance at Friday’s Board of Trustees meeting. Ten of them were allowed to address them in public session.
Each speech was different but there was one theme, rebuild the reputation of Penn State and rebuild the reputation of Joe Paterno.
Ten Penn State alumni, including some former Penn State football players, had three minutes each to address the Board of Trustees at a meeting around 5 p.m. in Derry Township.
They questioned the Board of Trustees leadership and demanded the trustees stand up to the NCAA and ask the sanction be removed.
In addition, a former football player spoke about Joe Paterno and the importance of his legacy. The players were there to hold the board to a higher standard and more specifically members of the board who have already been held to a higher standard because they played for Joe Paterno.
"They wouldn't take his call, they wouldn't make a call, they sat around silently,” stated former player on the PSU National Championship team Mark Battaglia. “Worse yet maybe they led the effort to fire Joe. Why?"
"We ask you to reconsider the following, read the report by the Paternos and compare to the Freeh report and gain a better perspective on this matter,” added Mickey Shuler. “Just because you commissioned and paid for it doesn't mean it is accurate or complete."
"We need to just move forward,” Robert Libby stated. “I don't think it serves a purpose to drag university leadership through the mud and I think that's what's taking place it pains me to hear continued criticism of Penn State’s Board of Trustees"
