Penn State President Rodney Erickson released a statement early Monday morning in response to the penalties the NCAA imposed on the Penn State football program.
The penalties were made in response to the administrative handling of child sex abuse reports involving Jerry Sandusky.
Sandusky, the former assistant coach, was convicted on 45 of 48 counts of child sex abuse.
In the statement, Erickson said that the sanctions were "necessary changes" as the university is "entering a new chapter."
However, many students and alumni felt that Erickson made the wrong decision in accepting the sanctions and that further investigation should have taken place.
"I feel Erickson showed a lack of leadership since he's taken office," Maribeth Roman Schmidt, public relations coordinator for Penn Staters for Responsible Stewardship, said. "He should have asked the NCAA to conduct their own personal investigation because the Freeh report is not a judicial summary of the case by any means."
Some felt that Erickson was a catalyst in the sanctions that were made against the football program.
"Erickson should have been removed the second he was appointed," Jeffery Simmons, PS4RS member, said. "The Board of Trustees gave too much power to the president and this is a failure on the part of Board of Trustees and the president."
Victoria Soff (freshman-health and human development) was disappointed in the fact that Erickson did not take action to defend the students of Penn State.
"I wish Erickson would fight for us as the students of Penn State who are so innocent," Soff said.
Along with disappointment over lack of defense, some felt Erickson was cowardly in his reaction.
"I think the sanctions are appropriate but premature," Simmons said. "He shouldn't have given in to pressure from other people."
Many see removal of the president and the Board of Trustees as the only option to help "Penn State embark[s] upon change and progress" as Erickson stated in his letter.
"The Board of Trustees and the president all had a hand in getting us where we are today and should be removed," Schmidt said.
