Penn State President Under Fire Amid Sexual Abuse Scandal
The Penn State president's job may be at risk, after a sexual abuse scandal, involving a former university defensive coordinator brought legal woes and questions of morality to the college.
A "Fire Graham Spanier" Facebook profile was created on Sunday, which placed part of the blame on the university’s president for the sexual abuse scandal that is affecting various parts of the staff.
"People who believe Graham Spanier's unconditional support for Tim Curley and Gary Schultz demonstrates he is incapable of handling the Jerry Sandusky situation, and the Penn State president should be fired immediately,” said a description of the Facebook profile.
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The Penn State athletics director and senior vice president for business were arraigned on Monday, after they stepped down from their positions amid the scandalous concerns surrounding the defensive coordinator’s possible indiscretions.
Curley, the athletics director, took an administrative leave and Schultz, senior vice president for business and finance, stepped down from his position because of the scandal. Both men were arraigned on Monday and face perjury charges for failing to properly involve law officials in the sexual abuse accusations.
The Facebook profile was created after Spanier released an official statement in support of his employees on Saturday.
"The protection of children is of paramount importance," said Spanier. "The University will take a number of actions moving forward to increase the safety and security within our facilities and make everyone aware of the protocols in place for handling these issues."
After reports surfaced that Jerry Sandusky, the former defensive coordinator for the team, was indicted on 40 counts after allegedly sexually abusing eight boys over 15 years before retiring in 1999, some questioned whether these acts were properly reported.
The boys involved in the scandal were at-risk youth who Sandusky met through a charity for at-risk youths. The former Penn State defensive coordinator stopped dealing with the charity in 2008, when the sexual abuse allegations first arose.
One of the 287 supporters of the "Fire Graham Spanier" profile said the entire staff should be fired.
"I cannot see myself being Penn State Proud again until this university completely cleans house - I want them all out - including Spanier and the entire football staff who was on staff when this was going on," said one of the page’s 287 supporters wrote.
