Timeline: Here’s a look Penn State’s misconduct reporting history since Sandusky scandal
Below is a look at key moments in the history of Penn State’s misconduct reporting processes.
February 2008: State lawmakers broaden Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know Law. However, the open records measure mostly excludes state-related universities, including Penn State.
June 2012: Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky is convicted on 45 counts related to sexually assaulting 10 boys. The months leading up to the conviction feature high-profile resignations within Penn State and the firing of then-President Graham Spanier and head football coach Joe Paterno.
July 2012: An investigative report from the law firm of former FBI Director Louis Freeh details failures within Penn State to respond to allegations of abuse by Sandusky. The same month, the NCAA fines Penn State $60 million, vacates more than a decade’s worth of wins for the football team, and imposes other sanctions on the football program. (The sanctions were removed and the wins were restored following a lawsuit.)
August 2012: As part of an agreement with the NCAA and the Big Ten, Penn State creates the athletics integrity officer position, which oversees compliance within university athletics and can investigate potential violations within the athletics department.
April 2013: Penn State creates the Office of Ethics and Compliance.
September 2014: Penn State releases the findings of a 2013 culture survey of employees and students. Only a quarter of respondents who saw misconduct say they reported it.
November 2016: The U.S. Department of Education levels a record $2.4 million fine for Penn State’s “longstanding failure to comply with federal requirements on campus safety and substance abuse.”
June 2017: The Pennsylvania Department of the Auditor General releases a performance review of the university. The report finds, among other things, that Penn State has hosted potentially dozens of youth camps without conducting the necessary background checks on all employees. Penn State characterizes the claim as “assumed extrapolation” and “not based in fact.”
May 2018: Penn State releases the results of its 2017 culture survey, a follow-up to the 2013 survey. The survey finds that 44% of faculty and 42% of staff believe Penn State does not retaliate against people who report wrongdoing.
March 2020: The U.S. Department of Education releases the findings of a follow-up investigation of Penn State. The department concludes Penn State violated federal regulations barring sex-based discrimination and that there remain “serious inadequacies” in how Penn State handles claims of sexual harassment.
