Last night Penn State University’s Board of Trustees did what would have seemed unthinkable a week ago by firing head football coach Joe Paterno. “Joe Pa,” as he is known by PSU fans, arrived on the Penn State campus as an assistant during the Truman administration and over the past 62 years became larger than the university itself to many.
Those who called for Paterno’s ouster – following his handling of an alleged 2002 pedophilia incident by former assistant Jerry Sandusky – believed he failed that victim and all subsequent victims when he did not use his power to force those in the athletic department and university administration to contact the authorities, instead of allegedly opting to deal with the problem internally.
The reported actions of those top decision makers at Penn State, which began in the days following the 2002 locker room incident and continued until this week, all shared the same misguided goal: Protecting the institution at all costs.
Those involved in the scandal likely thought they were being successful crisis managers the past nine years because the story never reached the media. That all changed on Sunday with news of Sandusky’s indictment and the filing of perjury charges against University Vice President Gary Schultz and Athletic Director Tim Curley for lying to the same grand jury that indicted Sandusky.
Even in the face of such unprecedented scrutiny, University President Graham Spanier stuck with the broken game plan of protecting the institution at all costs by placing unconditional support behind the two men charged with perjury when a statement calling for an internal investigation would have better served the university.
According to many reports, when the media arrived on campus earlier this week and demanded answers, Spanier did not allow Paterno the opportunity to host his weekly news conference, which could have served as a forum to express even the simplest words of concern for the victims. Instead, silence prevailed once again.
Yes, the leaders at Penn State did manage to protect the institution’s name for nine years by keeping this information away from the public, but for what? This short-sighted and frankly dangerous attempt at crisis management made the situation so much worse and has potentially ruined the legacy they were all working so hard to protect.
Effective crisis management is so much more than keeping negative information out of the news. As this week’s events have shown, word will eventually get out. Acting as if it will not is a flawed crisis management strategy.
Being ready to accept accountability, acknowledging fault and explaining how things will be repaired are the real key tenets of crisis management that never found their way into Penn State’s strategy – until last night.
While not everyone is pleased with Joe Paterno’s firing – as evidenced by the riots on campus in State College – it was the only option left on the table for the Board of Trustees, the real top decision maker at Penn State and the one that actually understands how public relations works.
Removing Paterno (and Spanier for that matter) sent a clear message that Penn State University understands its responsibility to protect the institution AND the importance of having the support of its fans, alumni, faculty, donors, state and federal education officials and the general public. Being connected with those who were part of the alleged cover up could not continue.
The trustees understand very well that without public support there is no Penn State University. It’s a shame it took this long for this storied institution to finally properly manage what is likely the worst scandal in college sports history.
