http://www.centredaily.com/news/local/education/penn-state/board-of-trustees/article102164037.html
To: Penn State Trustees, President Barron
cc: Penn State alumni networking
The events of March 2012 prove why the Alumni Trustees and other Trustees of character should treat this resolution with the contempt, disrespect, and noncompliance it deserves. That was when the Board issued a unanimous statement to the effect that it fired Joe Paterno for “failure of leadership,” a phrase it used twice. This statement was later proven false by Keith Masser’s and Kenneth Frazier’s depositions in a court case, which makes every single member of the Board in question a liar. This includes not only those who authored and published the dishonest statement in question but also those who acquiesced to it by “standing behind the decision of the group.”
This is emphatically clear from the U.S. Military Academy’s Honor Code, which says a cadet “shall not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do.” This means you not only can’t lie, you can’t be a party to a lie. Suppose for example that a group of cadets is responsible for a task, and something goes very wrong with it. The leader of the cadets, John Surma, says, “Let’s tell the Superintendent of West Point that Cadet Paterno failed to perform his leadership duty,” and Cadets Eckel, Lubert, Peetz, Frazier, and Masser all agree. Surma and his friends lie to the USMA’s Superintendent by scapegoating Cadet Paterno, which is of course cause for expulsion if it is discovered. So much for those who were probably responsible for the actual lie, but now we come to the passive followers. If Cadets Myers, Deviney, Riley, Arnelle, and so on remain mute rather than telling the Superintendent, “No, Sir, that is not what happened,” they are guilty of tolerating those who do, which also is cause for expulsion. This is why the alumni showed absolutely no mercy or restraint in firing the alumni Trustees in question, and under openly dishonorable conditions, even though we recognized that they were followers (sheep) rather than leaders. Their silence made them parties to a dishonest statement, especially noting the word “unanimous” in the March 2012 statement. No person of character is required to “stand behind the decision of the group” when the decision is to lie to and on behalf of the organization to which they owe a fiduciary duty.
Why, by the way, is the USMA’s Honor Code so draconian? Why will it expel cadets for lying or cheating (normally punishable by a zero grade, or at worst failure of the course, in a civilian university) as well as stealing, much less “tolerating those who do?” The issue of scapegoating a dead subordinate actually came up after the turret explosion in U.S.S. Iowa. So-called naval officers blamed a purportedly gay sailor for sabotaging the ammunition for the purpose of killing himself, when the real issue involved problems with the ammunition and possibly the automatic rammer that forces the charges into the gun’s breech. Had their scapegoating of the sailor been allowed to stand, the real problem would not have been dealt with and it could have happened again at the cost of more lives and possibly an entire ship. Lying and cheating can get service members killed, and lose very expensive equipment, in a military context. The launch of the space shuttle Challenger also took place over the objections of an engineer who would not “stand behind the decision of the group,” with the result that NASA earned the derisive nickname “Need Another Seven Astronauts” while the engineer in question was the only person to retain his honor and credibility in the aftermath. Former Trustee Al Clemens is similarly the only Board member from March 2012 to retain his honor and credibility, while Penn State’s reputation was ruined by Trustees who “stood behind the decision of the group.”
Under no circumstances should any Trustee allow his or her good name be used to support dysfunctional conduct by Ira Lubert, Mark Dambly, Keith Masser, or any of the other 11/9/2011 holdovers whose incompetent, dishonest, and self-serving actions have already caused enormous damage to the University.
William A. Levinson, B.S. ‘78
To: Penn State Trustees, President Barron
cc: Penn State alumni networking
The events of March 2012 prove why the Alumni Trustees and other Trustees of character should treat this resolution with the contempt, disrespect, and noncompliance it deserves. That was when the Board issued a unanimous statement to the effect that it fired Joe Paterno for “failure of leadership,” a phrase it used twice. This statement was later proven false by Keith Masser’s and Kenneth Frazier’s depositions in a court case, which makes every single member of the Board in question a liar. This includes not only those who authored and published the dishonest statement in question but also those who acquiesced to it by “standing behind the decision of the group.”
This is emphatically clear from the U.S. Military Academy’s Honor Code, which says a cadet “shall not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do.” This means you not only can’t lie, you can’t be a party to a lie. Suppose for example that a group of cadets is responsible for a task, and something goes very wrong with it. The leader of the cadets, John Surma, says, “Let’s tell the Superintendent of West Point that Cadet Paterno failed to perform his leadership duty,” and Cadets Eckel, Lubert, Peetz, Frazier, and Masser all agree. Surma and his friends lie to the USMA’s Superintendent by scapegoating Cadet Paterno, which is of course cause for expulsion if it is discovered. So much for those who were probably responsible for the actual lie, but now we come to the passive followers. If Cadets Myers, Deviney, Riley, Arnelle, and so on remain mute rather than telling the Superintendent, “No, Sir, that is not what happened,” they are guilty of tolerating those who do, which also is cause for expulsion. This is why the alumni showed absolutely no mercy or restraint in firing the alumni Trustees in question, and under openly dishonorable conditions, even though we recognized that they were followers (sheep) rather than leaders. Their silence made them parties to a dishonest statement, especially noting the word “unanimous” in the March 2012 statement. No person of character is required to “stand behind the decision of the group” when the decision is to lie to and on behalf of the organization to which they owe a fiduciary duty.
Why, by the way, is the USMA’s Honor Code so draconian? Why will it expel cadets for lying or cheating (normally punishable by a zero grade, or at worst failure of the course, in a civilian university) as well as stealing, much less “tolerating those who do?” The issue of scapegoating a dead subordinate actually came up after the turret explosion in U.S.S. Iowa. So-called naval officers blamed a purportedly gay sailor for sabotaging the ammunition for the purpose of killing himself, when the real issue involved problems with the ammunition and possibly the automatic rammer that forces the charges into the gun’s breech. Had their scapegoating of the sailor been allowed to stand, the real problem would not have been dealt with and it could have happened again at the cost of more lives and possibly an entire ship. Lying and cheating can get service members killed, and lose very expensive equipment, in a military context. The launch of the space shuttle Challenger also took place over the objections of an engineer who would not “stand behind the decision of the group,” with the result that NASA earned the derisive nickname “Need Another Seven Astronauts” while the engineer in question was the only person to retain his honor and credibility in the aftermath. Former Trustee Al Clemens is similarly the only Board member from March 2012 to retain his honor and credibility, while Penn State’s reputation was ruined by Trustees who “stood behind the decision of the group.”
Under no circumstances should any Trustee allow his or her good name be used to support dysfunctional conduct by Ira Lubert, Mark Dambly, Keith Masser, or any of the other 11/9/2011 holdovers whose incompetent, dishonest, and self-serving actions have already caused enormous damage to the University.
William A. Levinson, B.S. ‘78
