Former Penn State President Graham Spanier has been charged with several counts

[Rlaub44]

Sure:

2. Reports and information required. This delegation of authority
requires that the Board rely on the judgment and decisions of
those who operate under its authority. However, this reliance of
the Board must be based upon its continuing awareness of the
operations of the University. Therefore, the Board shall receive
and consider thorough and forthright reports on the affairs of the
University by the President or those designated by the President.
It has a continuing obligation to require information or answers on
any University matter with which it is concerned.

(Emphasis added.)

The President (in this case, Spanier), either reports directly or designates who can report. The president doesn't want something reported, he simply prohibits that person from reporting.

The Board could suspend that rule, or amend it, or could instruct the President to require the person to report (under penalty of firing), but the person wanting to report cannot without the President's permission. I'll lay odds that the Trustees never realized that.

In the specific case, the rule granted Spanier the authority to determine who would and who wouldn't report. He, acting under this rule, told Baldwin to leave. Baldwin, under the rule, didn't have the authority to tell the Board.

Ironically, the rule is still in place. Erickson could get information from some employee and decide not to permit the person to report it. Erickson, hopefully, would not be that inept, politically.

I'll add that I checked the minutes of May 13, 2011 meeting, and the wording of the rule has not changed.

Thanks, but I still read it differently. To me, it means that the President is responsible and expected to keep the Board informed about any important matters, but not that it is restricting the board's access to other employees.

As in, the board needs to know what is going on in the day to day governance of the University, and the President had better not keep them in the dark about matters that may be critical. And if he doesn't do it himself, he had better delegate someone else to make the report.

(Still no response from the Office of General Counsel -I will post if I hear anything)

 

[J. J. in Phila]

Thanks, but I still read it differently. To me, it means that the President is responsible and expected to keep the Board informed about any important matters, but not that it is restricting the board's access to other employees.

First, I did not say the President was not responsible for informing the Board.

Non members (including ex-members) of the board, in general, have no right to address or report to the Board. That clause, Therefore, the Board shall receive
and consider thorough and forthright reports on the affairs of the
University by the President or those designated by the President, limits who can automatically report.

As in, the board needs to know what is going on in the day to day governance of the University, and the President had better not keep them in the dark about matters that may be critical. And if he doesn't do it himself, he had better delegate someone else to make the report.

The rule creates an obligation for the President to report or designate others to report. It does not create an obligation for other officers to report.

Now, did Spanier give a " thorough and forthright report" on the Sandusky grand jury? Arguably, no. Did that create a requirement for Baldwin to report? No, not at all.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

The hearing for Spanier, Curley, and Schultz will be 12/13/12.

http://www.centredaily.com/2012/11/13/3401662/preliminary-hearing-date-set-for.html

 

[J. J. in Phila]

Spanier's compensation package from 2011 is $3,300,000 before taxes.

http://www.centredaily.com/2012/11/28/3417587/penn-state-spanier-received-33.html

 

[costalpilot]

so the penn state university agreed to a contract with spanier that provided for nearly a 2.5 million dollar severance bonus even if he was fired?

which he was.

isnt this just a little odd?

 

[J. J. in Phila]

And Spanier wishes to do a bit of traveling: http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/11/post_476.html#incart_river_default

 

[ThoughtFox]

And Spanier wishes to do a bit of traveling: http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/11/post_476.html#incart_river_default

I saw that on Twitter today and just shook my head in disgust. He really has some nerve, and obviously still believes he is above the law. :furious:

 

[J. J. in Phila]

I saw that on Twitter today and just shook my head in disgust. He really has some nerve, and obviously still believes he is above the law. :furious:

Not exactly good PR.

 

[Reader]

Big mess yields big payout

http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/loc...cle_dc31b99f-5f8f-52df-b04d-65d1f80afc8d.html

.........In the rarefied world where corporate executives and, increasingly, university presidents ply their talents, messing up could be akin to hitting the jackpot..............

That includes $1.2 million in severance pay and $1.24 million in deferred compensation earned during his 16 years as president.

Officials explained the startling deal as required under Spanier’s 2010 contract, noting that Spanier was “terminated without cause.”

That’s funny. We thought Spanier was forced out because of the mess that occurred on his watch. Regardless of his own complicity — if any — the scandal earned international attention. ..........

Here’s another deal, one that should raise some questions. According to the published report, Spanier’s contract, the one officials say entitles Spanier to the aforementioned millions, was announced months after subpoenas had been issued in the Sandusky probe — a probe Spanier was aware of. That’s the finding of a former FBI director hired by the university to conduct an independent investigation.

With so much roiling at the time, why did the university re-up with Spanier? And why did the deal include guaranteed money in light of gathering storm clouds?................

 

[ThoughtFox]

Reader: Lots of good questions in that piece!

 

[Twindad]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ndal-Joe-Paterno-got-RAISE-investigation.html
Sounds a lot like what happened with Paterno.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

The hearing for Spanier, Curley, and Schultz had been postponed until the pretrial motions are resolved. http://www.centredaily.com/2012/12/05/3425615/perjury-trial-for-tim-curley-gary.html

 

[Rlaub44]

Prosecutors are gathering more evidence against Spanier:

A judge overseeing the grand jury investigation of Penn State administrators' handling of early allegations against Jerry Sandusky has ordered "The New Yorker" magazine to give prosecutors unedited audio of lengthy interview sessions with former Penn State President Graham Spanier from this summer
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/in...rker_must_turn_over.html#incart_river_default

 

[Reader]

Judge: Ex-Penn State President Graham Spanier ordered not to have contact with trustees

http://www.centredaily.com/2012/12/31/3451069/judge-ex-penn-state-president.html#wgt=rcntnews

Former Penn State President Graham Spanier has been ordered not to have contact with any former or current university trustees.

The mandate was part of some changes Harrisburg-area District Judge William Wenner made Friday to the bail for Spanier, who is accused of covering up abuse allegations against Jerry Sandusky and obstructing prosecutors’ investigation. What prompted the judge to impose the no-contact provision is not known, as there were no written motions to that effect by the prosecuting or defense attorneys in the case................

Wenner refused to budge on the international travel ban, but the district judge did allow Spanier to travel in the United States as long as he gives the court his travel itinerary five days before he goes out of town........

More at link.....

 

[Twindad]

http://deadspin.com/ray-gricar/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/04/graham-spanier-ex-penn-st_n_2237943.html
Re his trips overseas, incl Slovnia - Slovnia is known for a judge facing prosecution fleeing to there, and there were rumors about the missing DA Ray Gricar also. Family ties in both cases. deadspin.com + "...Judge Joseph F. O'Kicki of western Pennsylvania's Cambria County Court of Common Pleas fled to Slovenia, his father's birthplace, where he had secretly obtained citizenship. The Pennsylvania authorities' efforts to get him back have proved futile, largely because Slovenia, a republic within the former Yugoslavia, has no extradition treaty with the U.S. http://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/11/us/a-fugitive-judge-s-unusual-emergence.html

Interesting thought. Sounds like something J. J. in Phila might know more about.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

http://deadspin.com/ray-gricar/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/04/graham-spanier-ex-penn-st_n_2237943.html
Re his trips overseas, incl Slovnia - Slovnia is known for a judge facing prosecution fleeing to there, and there were rumors about the missing DA Ray Gricar also. Family ties in both cases. deadspin.com + "...Judge Joseph F. O'Kicki of western Pennsylvania's Cambria County Court of Common Pleas fled to Slovenia, his father's birthplace, where he had secretly obtained citizenship. The Pennsylvania authorities' efforts to get him back have proved futile, largely because Slovenia, a republic within the former Yugoslavia, has no extradition treaty with the U.S. http://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/11/us/a-fugitive-judge-s-unusual-emergence.html

Interesting thought. Sounds like something J. J. in Phila might know more about.

RFG had relatives and traveled to Slovenia, not Slovakia. While both in Eastern Europe, they are not the same country and they do not border each other. Slovakia use to the eastern part of Czechoslovakia. Slovenia was in the north of Yugoslavia. They both border Austria and Hungary (and were ruled by the Habsburgs until 1918).

They are not the same country, and, so far as I know, RFG had no ties to Slovakia.

BTW: Slovenia has had an extradition treaty with the US since 2008-09. (Funny how I knew that without looking.)

 

[Reader]

Ex-Penn State boss Graham Spanier fights ban on contacting trustees

http://www.delcotimes.com/articles/2013/01/08/news/doc50ec86c61a567631872780.txt

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Former Penn State president Graham Spanier wants a judge to modify his bail condition barring contact with current or former members of the university's board of trustees — in part because he's neighbors with some of them — while he awaits trial on charges he covered up sexual abuse allegations against Jerry Sandusky.

Spanier's lawyers filed a motion Monday that said the restriction in a Dec. 31 Dauphin County court order is impractical and may be unconstitutional if prosecutors can't show he is likely to try to intimidate witnesses............

Spanier argues that another provision, barring contact with any witnesses, is not practical because the attorney general's office has not disclosed who it plans to call at trial. A call seeking comment from prosecutors was not immediately returned.


More at link......

 

[Reader]

Graham Spanier’s bail no longer bans contact with Penn State trustees

A Dauphin County district judge has rescinded part of former Penn State President Graham Spanier’s bail that had barred him from contacting the university’s trustees and potential prosecution witnesses in the perjury case against him.

District Judge William Wenner changed on Friday the condition that Spanier’s attorneys argued was unconstitutional and did not accomplish the goals of bail, which are to make a defendant show up for court cases.

The attorneys said it was impractical, too, because the former university president lives in the same high-rise apartment complex in College Township as two trustees and they are in the same social circles.

Read more here: http://www.centredaily.com/2013/02/...-bans-contact.html#wgt=rcntnews#storylink=cpy

 

[nittanylioness234]

Spanier was the highest paid president of all public universities last year:


http://money.cnn.com/2013/05/12/pf/college/university-president-pay/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

 

[J. J. in Phila]

Spanier was the highest paid president of all public universities last year:


http://money.cnn.com/2013/05/12/pf/college/university-president-pay/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Just saw that. With severance pay, $2.9 million.

And, he is still a tenured professor at PSU.