Mitchell to NCAA: Penn St making ‘steady progress’

STATE COLLEGE, PA. (AP) - Penn State is making steady progress in implementing the requirements outlined by the NCAA following the sanctions for the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal, former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell said Friday.

Mitchell, the independent athletics integrity monitor, also said in a statement Friday that the university is making progress in implementing recommendations from Louis Freeh following the former FBI director’s internal investigation into the scandal. The school has said the recommendations were designed to strengthen governance, compliance and reporting.

“University administrators, staff, and trustees continued to demonstrate a good faith effort to fulfill their obligations and to implement improvements to Penn State’s functionality and security,” Mitchell wrote in the 30-page document. “My team and I have received continued, complete cooperation from the university.”

The NCAA last summer named Mitchell independent monitor for the university after college sports’ governing body levied strict sanctions including a four-year bowl ban, steep scholarship cuts and a $60 million fine.

Gov. Tom Corbett has filed a federal antitrust lawsuit seeking to get the penalties overturned, while the NCAA has responded by asking the case be dismissed.

Mitchell said following a trustees meeting in January that the litigation had no bearing on his review. His next report is due by the end of May.

In a separate statement, university president Rodney Erickson cited the latest findings as evidence of “Penn State’s ongoing commitment to integrity, responsibility and ethical conduct.”

“We still have more to do, but we’re gratified that Sen. Mitchell and his team recognize all that we have done and that we are committed to continuing these efforts, in full compliance” with the NCAA agreement, Erickson said.

Mitchell highlighted that Penn State had met the deadline for actions required by the NCAA to be completed within four months of the sanctions, including the hiring of a new athletics integrity officer and the establishment of a formal code of conduct for athletics. About 1,800 people were certified, including 1,100 “covered persons” including players, coaches, administrators and the Board of Trustees.

Mitchell’s report, though, said one trustee, Anthony Lubrano declined to sign because of opposition to the sanctions.

Penn State has said it has implemented the majority of the 119 recommendations outlined by Freeh. The NCAA and Big Ten have allowed Penn State to bypass five Freeh recommendations that primarily have to do with human resources upon Mitchell’s recommendation, according to the latest report.

Sandusky, 69, was sentenced to at least 30 years in prison last fall after being convicted on dozens of criminal counts of child sex abuse, including allegations on campus. He maintains his innocence.

Besides the recommendations, Freeh in his report accused the late Hall of Fame coach Joe Paterno and three former administrators of conspiring to cover up allegations against Sandusky. The NCAA cited Freeh’s report in punishing Penn State.

Some alumni, students, staffers and trustees remain angry about how the school handled Freeh’s report and the sanctions. The former administrators have vehemently denied the allegations, and Paterno’s family last month released a long-awaited response.

The critique commissioned by the family called Freeh’s inaccurate and unfounded, resulting in a “rush to injustice.”

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