I was shocked by the Penn State Faculty Senate’s recent vote to not contest the Freeh Report. I received my masters and doctorate from Penn State, so I know a little bit about the significance of quality research.
I am also the past president of the faculty senate at my university, so I also understand how hard it is to get any controversial motion past by such an organization.
What dumbfounds me is that a community of “scholars” defeated this motion.
What if the Freeh Report was a thesis or dissertation by one of your graduate students?
Would you approve it without reading or closely examining it?
Or, after approving the report you find out that your student made several key errors, would you simply say “Oh heck, let’s move on.”
That is exactly what the Board of Trustees has done, and those of you who voted against this motion have done.
I received my degrees at Penn State many years ago, but I do know my graduate committees would have never accepted such a poorly written and researched piece of “scholarship.”
Be aware that I am sickened by the thought of grown men molesting children.But I am also disappointed by individuals who ignore research that questions the findings of a report that has significant negative consequences for Penn State.
As a community of scholars, you should have done better.
Bruce McKinney
Class of 1980
