Lessons Learned: The Failure of Pennsylvania State University's Board of Trustees in the Sandusky Affair

• In Event: Roundtable Session 20
  In Roundtable Session: Understanding Leaders' Decision Making: Politics, Policy, and Performance

Abstract

The authors use reports, depositions, and articles employed in lawsuits against Penn State (PSU) to examine the influence on internal influences on the role of the Board in the Sandusky scandal. The authors portray a board that was complicit in criminal activities and failed to hold the “trust” of the public university. The documents analyzed convey missteps of years of child sexual abuse and how the abuse was mishandled due to influential internal social networks in a football-loving college town. They also illustrate the often dysfunctional governance relationship between key stakeholders. What unfolded at PSU creates an opportunity to inform the work of trustees who desire to improve campus governance and oversight in the future.

Authors

• Raquel M. Rall, University of California - Riverside

• William G. Tierney, University of Southern California