Penn State's position is not an enviable one.

In fact, neither Dan Aykroyd nor Eddie Murphy would want to trade places with Penn State.

In the past four months, the Penn State Athletic Department has been put in the very delicate situation of handling a developing lawsuit filed by former Lady Lion Jen Harris against Penn State women's basketball coach Rene Portland, Athletic Director Tim Curley and Penn State. The lawsuit, filed on Dec. 21, alleges Portland discriminated against Harris on the basis of race, gender and sexual orientation.

Harris claims Portland asked her to leave the team because she believed Harris to be a lesbian. Since Harris first spoke out in mid-October, Cindy Davies and Courtney Wicks, two other former Lady Lions, have also said Portland has openly condemned lesbians and used anti-lesbian recruiting tactics.

Lawyers representing Portland, Curley and Penn State filed to dismiss the charges Jan. 26.

Washington College Athletic College Director Bryan Matthews said it's a situation no athletic director wants to see.

"It's obviously a challenge for their athletic director and the coach and the team and everybody," Matthews said. "It's a difficult one to work through. No doubt about it."

Since the allegations were made, the athletic department has refused to comment publicly. Portland, however, has released two statements supporting the university's discrimination policy. The only other comment from Penn State's camp has been from Penn State spokesman Bill Mahon, who says no "regular updates" will be given on the investigation.

While the Student Stonewall Coalition at Penn State has called for Portland's immediate dismissal, the option just isn't viable.

Penn State cannot dismiss Portland on allegations alone. With all Portland has done for Penn State and women's basketball, she deserves due process of the law just like every other American citizen.

Portland is a Penn State and women's basketball icon. She has coached Penn State for 26 years, compiling a 587-215 record here. She's been named the Women's Basketball Coach Association Coach of the Year twice, led Penn State to four Big Ten titles and has been a champion of Title IX legislation. In her college years, she was part of an Immaculata College team that won three straight national titles in the early 1970s.

"All those people that played on that [Immaculata] team have really done a lot for women's basketball," Villanova women's basketball coach Harry Peretta said after a Nov. 20 game against Penn State. "What we have today is because of those people back then. Rene and the other people on that team went out and made women's basketball very popular. I'm very grateful to her."

Portland's ability to coach and win games cannot be questioned. She's already one of the best coaches in history, with only a national championship missing from her resume.

"Rene is a class individual." Pittsburgh women's basketball coach Agnus Berenato said after a Dec. 2 game against Penn State. "Rene's a role model. She's a great coach."

Then why hasn't the athletic department issued a statement supporting its coach? The answer is simple: Penn State cannot risk supporting an alleged bigot.

No matter how impressive Portland's basketball history is, one verified claim of discrimination in a court of law would erase everything. Portland would be remembered for discrimination against her own players, not wins.

If Penn State publicly stood behind Portland now and Harris' claim is verified, the reputation of Penn State could suffer irreversible damage.

In September 2004, Penn State and Portland agreed to a contract extension through 2009, and, while officials within in the athletic department refuse to emphatically state the contract will hold, they haven't said it won't either.

Other athletic directors say Penn State is correct in waiting for the investigation to run its course.

"People shouldn't be commenting one way or the other until the process is complete," Lock Haven Athletic Director Sharon Taylor said. "It should be standard practice everywhere. Your comment could be premature. It could be an error in any direction."

Both Taylor and Matthews each distanced themselves from the situation, with Taylor calling it a "Penn State issue" and Matthews saying, "It's not my problem here, so you're not going to get a lot of quotes out of me."

And really, who could blame them?