STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Penn State officials could face a long process if they decide to remove former President Graham B. Spanier from his tenured teaching position. Spanier was removed from his post as president after the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal broke.
Under Penn State’s policy, professors can be stripped of tenure for incompetence, excessive absenteeism, moral turpitude or grave misconduct, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Spanier, however, acted as a president in the Sandusky case, not as a professor, which could further complicate the issue.
A recent report on the sex abuse case by former FBI Director Louis Freeh accused Spainer, as well as Joe Paterno and two other senior university officials, of covering up Sandusky’s attacks on young boys.
Also, Penn State Board of Trustees member Steve Garban resigned Thursday, becoming the first board member to do so after the report was released.
In his resignation letter, Garban wrote that “the Board of Trustees accepted responsibility for the failures of governance that took place on our watch,” CNN reports. Garban served as chairman when the scandal broke and stepped down following Sandusky’s arrest.
Garban’s resignation is the latest fallout for the university, which is still under scrutiny by the Department of Education and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
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