Penn State Trustee Plans Appeal of NCAA Penalties

A Pennsylvania State University trustee plans to appeal the severe punishment the National Collegiate Athletic Association imposed on the institution in the wake of its child sex abuse scandal, questioning whether the NCAA provided the university with due process and even whether Penn State's president had the authority to sign off on the penalties without getting approval from the university's full board, the Associated Press reported. The NCAA has asserted that it had clearance to impose the penalties on Penn State outside its normal enforcement and infractions process because of the outside investigation Penn State ordered and because Penn State consented to the penalties. But recent news reports have indicated that the board never formally approved Louis Freeh's external report and that many trustees were kept in the dark about the negotiations with the NCAA.