Paterno Lenient With Disciplining Penn State Players, Former School Official Says
A former Penn State disciplinarian recently revealed that alleged child-abuser Jerry Sandusky wasn't the only individual Joe Paterno failed to blow the whistle on.
Vicky Traponey, who served as Penn State's vice president of student affairs from 2003 to 2007 and was responsible for enforcing discipline, came forward Monday claiming that during her time at the school, she and Paterno were often at odds about how football players were to be punished after violating the school's code of conduct.
Traponey claims that football players were given preferential treatment over other students and that Paterno constantly interfered with warranted disciplinary action.
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The Wall Street Journal published excerpts of emails she allegedly sent to Penn State President Graham Spanier and other administrators asking for assistance.
Triponey wrote that Paterno believed she should have "no interest, (or business) holding our football players accountable to our community standards. The Coach is insistent he knows best how to discipline his players…and their status as a student when they commit violations of our standards should NOT be our concern…and I think he was saying we should treat football players different from other students in this regard."
She also said in a statement Monday that numerous meetings were held concerning disciplinary infraction cases involving football players, and that in each of those cases it was requested that the terms of punishment be altered.
Triponey was allegedly fired over the conflicts with Paterno and even harrassed by students for butting heads with him. According to The Daily Beast, she received numerous prank calls, had students slam her on online message boards, and had people knocking on her door late at night only to have them bolt when she went to answer it.
Paterno's lawyer responded by saying that Triponey's allegations were completely false and out of context.
When asked how she felt about the culture of Penn State, she said that there "is a blind sense of loyalty, not just at top, but at all levels."
