State lawmakers are reluctant to intervene in Penn State trustee oversight despite unrest

CENTER COUNTY, Pa. (WJAC) — Will the current legal turmoil surrounding Penn State’s Board of Trustees, coupled with the fact that the university receives millions of dollars in state funding, prompt new trustee oversight proposals from state lawmakers?

Penn State’s trustees recently amended long-standing bylaws governing trustee elections, with the board now having the first say on which candidates they believe are eligible for election.

Last week we heard about a proposed screening matrix to evaluate trustee candidates.

It comes as two current trustees, who may not pass the screening process, recently won court decisions against Penn State.

In Center County, a judge sided with curator Barry Fenchak and blocked a possible vote to remove him from the trustee board.

Fenchak’s lawsuit against trustee leadership is still pending, claiming they refused to provide him with requested financial information from the university.

In Lackawanna County District Court, a lawsuit against trustee leadership revealed that Trustee Anthony Lubrano was the subject of an investigation after the February trustee meeting when he spoke about a proposed name change for Beaver Stadium.

“Our proposal actually consists of two components. The first would be Sue and Joe Paterno Day in the fall at Beaver Stadium, after which we would unveil Paterno Field at Beaver Stadium,” Lubrano previously explained.

Testimony from a hearing in Lackawanna County District Court in September showed that Lubrano was only told months later that he was the subject of an internal trustee investigation after anonymous complaints were filed from other trustees about the February meeting.

Lubrano filed a lawsuit and a judge ruled that Lubrano’s testimony was credible and also ordered that Penn State could not pause the investigation until the university advanced money to pay Lubrano’s legal fees.

In recent years there have been attempts by state lawmakers to enact legislation on trustee-related issues, but don’t expect that to happen now.

“We don’t dictate everything they do. People think because we give them some money, but there are many organizations that get some money from us. But we don’t dictate to them, that’s what their board of directors is for,” said Rep. Kerry Benninghoff.

Penn State’s full board of trustees will meet next week.