trustees expressed here. I do not have any inside information to add to the decided lack of inside information we have gotten from Rob Tribeck's and Alice Pope's and Anthony Lubrano's posts here and on social media. (I will say they have likely told us all they are at liberty to say.)
What I have had is some time. Time while on vacation last week during which I fried my laptop by spilling a full 16 oz mug of coffee on it (cream, two Splendas), meaning therefore time during which I was essentially silent. I was silent because, when your fingers resemble two matched packs of Johnsonville Bratwurst, you cant type worth spit on a cell phone. Time to read and think and be unable to join in. So here is what I've got.
We all, whether fairly or not, had fairly high expectations going in to the election of Ira Lubert as Chair. Not expectations of winning, because 9 is not and will never be a majority on the PSU Board.
Expectations of what, then? That someone would call Ira out for his various conflicts of interest both predating the Sandusky case and since it first broke. Some of us I am sure dreamed of a weeping Ira Lubert, broken-hearted and sick at the notion that we all do not worship him, being led from the meeting hall in either handcuffs or a straitjacket, sobbing "I KNEW it was a mistake to screw Joe! I told Frazier and Surma not to do it!"
Well...it is fun to imagine, but perhaps just a wee bit outside the realm of possibility. We want to win, not just play for advantage in the future. We want to go for it on fourth down, not punt every time, right?
Well, I am pretty sure from what I know of them the A9 largely feel the same way. They have a bigger problem than us, though. They cannot afford to gamble and lose. They have to play the short field.
Information is being gathered from a variety of sources--the trustees are reviewing the Freeh docs, the OAG has showed a renewed interest in the 2d Mile. Those reviews should be done in a few months. Ira has to know those reviews are going forward. Moreover, these ancient civil suits have to be tried at some point, and the CSS cases have to end.
Masser is a dullard. He was never going to have the foresight to prepare the University to face what this new round of stuff they hid since '11 (and before) will mean when it comes out, but Ira, while he may be evil, is not stupid.
Remember that our A9 are Legislators, not executives. Remember also that they have put a lot of themselves into this for a very long time, and all the ones I know are pretty adept at not being fools on the subject of wasting their time on pipe dreams. Let's give them a chance to work it. Ira was going to be chair whatever they did. If there is anything to be gained by not spilling blood during this election, they would be more likely than you or me to know it.
It isn't like you got misled while the A9 kept a bunch of insiders informed--Maribeth Roman Schmidt was just as shocked as anyone here, and she personally has worked harder than any ten of us to get these people in place to have the chance to make this decision. Let's have a little faith. What are we going to do except watch and wait, anyhow?
We are no worse off than we would have been had they tied up the meeting thru procedural maneuvers then lost the vote 24-9 or whatever, and we may find that at the right moment, the chair will go for us. Lubert, distasteful as you may find him, is being given a chance to be The Man Who Saved Penn State. I think he just might be self-interested enough to take it.