Former PSU president discusses new memoir, sets record straight on Sandusky scandal

Centre Co., PA (WJAC) — Former Penn State President Graham Spanier says he wants to set the record straight in his new book in terms of what happened to him and the university during the Jerry Sandusky scandal.

The book is expected to spark controversy with Spanier’s narrative, which greatly differs at times with public opinion on the famous scandal.

In the early days of November 2011, charges were filed in the Jerry Sandusky case and Penn State's trustees responded.

“The board of trustees and Graham Spanier have decided that effective immediately, Dr. Spanier is no longer president of the university.”

In his new book, titled "In the Lion’s Den: the Penn State Scandal and Rush to Judgement,” Graham Spanier repeatedly maintains his innocence.

He is highly critical of the media, and others, who he says have misconstrued the truth in the Sandusky case, and the criticism extends to the university's board of trustees.

“They were not prepared to handle this crisis. When they said to me, ‘we’re not going to let you handle it, we’re going to handle it,’ they didn’t do a good job. They made decisions that made it worse for Penn State. This is really not a Penn State scandal. Jerry Sandusky had been retired from the university. He wasn't employed by us.”

Specifically, Spanier feels the trustees did everything they could, including spending millions of dollars, in a failed attempt to make the Sandusky scandal disappear.

“But in the university, the shareholders are the 700-thousand alumni, for whom Penn State is part of their identity. It’s about our students, employees, alumni, and you just don’t forget in a year or two. Here we are, ten years later, people still have this very much open mind that it’s not going away. The university has taken some steps to make this right, but they haven’t gone all the way there.”

In the book's more than 500 pages, Spanier covers a lot of topics in great detail, including his lengthy time in the court system.

“I have found out that there are serious problems in the Pennsylvania judicial system.”

Spanier was eventually convicted on a misdemeanor.

“I was offered a plea bargain several times and I said no. It went against what I believed in.”

His refusal to plea bargain, and then a guilty verdict in a jury trial, put Spanier in the Centre County Prison.

“I have a completely different view of the corrections system in Pennsylvania. First of all, there’s really no corrections in the corrections system.”

One person drawing high praise from Spanier is legendary football coach Joe Paterno.

He says Paterno had a retirement plan in place in 2011, despite some trustees pushing for his firing several years earlier.

“We were never about to fire Joe Paterno. He was a great coach and an incredible asset to Penn State in so many ways beyond football.”

Spanier and Paterno did a lot of fundraising, including one trip the pair made to Johnstown to ask Frank Pasquerilla for what Spanier thought would be a three-million-dollar gift for a new university spiritual center.

“And so, we get in there and I make the pitch and explain everything. Then joe says, ‘Frank we want to ask you for five-million-dollars.’ And in my head, I’m thinking Joe blew it. There was a long silence then Frank says, ‘okay Joe, I think we can do five-million-dollars."

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