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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPSU ignored the federal Clery Act for SIXTEEN YEARS.
Sixteen years after the Clery Act went into effect and even as a child sexual predator roamed its main campus Penn State was still twiddling its thumbs.<snip>
Jeanne Clery was a 19-year-old freshman at Lehigh University in Bethlehem when she was raped and murdered in 1986. Her murder at the hands of another Lehigh student who entered her dormitory through a propped-open door highlighted the underreporting of crime on college campuses.
Among other provisions, the law enacted in her name requires universities to collect crime statistics and provide public warnings of Clery crimes, a category that includes sexual assaults.
It also requires campus security authorities a group that includes the director of athletics and team coaches to report crimes to the university police department.
In the 17 years after the laws passage by Congress, the lone staffer at Penn State tasked with Clery Act compliance was not provided with formal training, nor was he aware of many of the universitys obligations.
<snip>
In 2009, Penn State failed to conduct background checks on 234 of the 735 coaches paid to work at summer sports camps before the camps began.
<snip>
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/07/is_penn_state_lacking_in_its_c.html#cmpid=v2modk_be_smoref_twitt
Bastids!
The Feds can really smack them because of this inaction.
ProdigalJunkMail
(12,017 posts)the shit flowed all the way up to the president of the university...this was not a football thing.
burn the campus...salt the ground it stood on...
oh, and that interview on CNN with Jay Paterno made me almost puke...despite all the evidence they are still protecting the 'legacy' of that bastard.
sP
Avalux
(35,015 posts)I usually have thick skin, but that comment hurts me, as someone who spent a lot of time on campus. There were and are plenty of good people and accomplishments associated with PSU.
Not cool dude.
ProdigalJunkMail
(12,017 posts)the administration of that school protected and enabled a monster. i have little care of your sensibilities here...the whole place is tainted now. use the school's endowment to allow all students with scholarships to continue them elsewhere and burn the whole place to the ground. and given the reaction of the 'fans' after Paterno was implicated and then fired and the recent interview given by Jay Paterno it is apparent that there is a pattern of willingness to 'look the other way' that is pervasive.
burn it...salt it...
sP
alcibiades_mystery
(36,437 posts)The Penn State scandal has brought new focus on compliance with the law, said Alison Kiss, executive director of the Clery Center for Security on Campus. Since the initial reports of Mr. Sanduskys abuse last year, several schools have reached out to her group for help with their Clery Act policies, Ms. Kiss said, adding that she expects the report to spark changes at more institutions.
Ms. Kiss said lack of compliance with the law is still widespread. The law was intended for school officials and campus security to take shared responsibility for keeping the community apprised of crime and providing avenues to report it, she said. But often the institutional leadership is oblivious to the law, she said.
Are_grits_groceries
(17,111 posts)The 'everybody is the same' excuse doesn't cut it. They proclaimed they were gooder than good.
redqueen
(115,103 posts)The way I read it, this means we need to punish those at the top of PSU harshly, and crack down on everyone else hard.
Are_grits_groceries
(17,111 posts)alcibiades_mystery
(36,437 posts)You say "Penn State didn't comply with Clery!" The suggestion is that that's rare. It's not. It's common.
Take it as you will.