Shame, but no resignations, from Penn State trustees

Penn State’s Board of Trustees has responded to an internal report into the university’s handling of the Jerry Sandusky scandal.

Though the trustees say they’re “deeply ashamed,” they have no intention of resigning.

Three chastened members of the Penn State Board of Trustees answered questions for some 20 minutes Thursday in Scranton.

No trustees plan to resign, even in light of the investigation’s findings that they shouldn’t have settled for smokescreen answers from the university’s top leaders when allegations against Sandusky first surfaced last March.

Trustee Kenneth Frazier says the failure to press Graham Spanier for more details about child abuse allegations against Sandusky was wrapped up in the ousted president’s own once-sterling reputation.

“Based on all external appearances, we believed we were being told what was accurate,” Frazier said. “In retrospect, we were not being told what was accurate. And so, I am saying in retrospect, I wish we had probed more.”

The report laid most of the blame for 14 years of silence about Sandusky at the feet of Spanier, two other administrators, and the late longtime coach Joe Paterno.

Karen Peetz, chairwoman since January, says top officials at Penn State were not forthcoming.

“We feel concerned and misled in the entire situation, although we are taking responsibility,” she said. “We did not withhold that information and so each of the individuals, I would say, have let us down significantly.

Peetz says Paterno’s legacy is “now marred.”