To: Penn State Alumni Association
cc: alumni networking
http://onwardstate.com/2016/06/10/a...d-for-withholding-franco-harris-speech-video/
“While we respect the opinions offered by this year’s Lion’s Paw Medal recipient, they were out of place at this event,” Clifford said. “The Alumni Association neither endorses nor opposes the content, but we can’t ignore the mixed response expressed by many in attendance and the distraction from the other honored guests in attendance, as well as from our 50th Reunion Class and Penn State Pioneers. Because there was a mixed reaction, we’ve decided not to release the video…we don’t want to do anything to further divide the Penn State family.”
As with any other controversial publication, those who do not like the content are free to not view the video, but my dues and the dues of every other PSAA member helped pay (directly or indirectly) for the event which means those of us who do want to see the video have the right to do so.
I recall that alumni had to file a lawsuit when the PSAA’s leaders, in violation of the organization’s bylaws, tried to keep Jim Smith and Elizabeth Morgan off the ballot last year. Will it be necessary for PSAA’s members to explore a class action lawsuit to gain access to the Franco Harris video? As for dividing the Penn State family, the decision by PSAA’s leadership to tell us what we can and cannot see is presumptuous and over the line, and I personally consider it a deliberately hostile act that invites and even requires a response in kind such as what I just described. In addition, of course, donations to PSAA should be out of the question until the so-called leadership recognizes that its purpose is to serve its members rather than lord it over them and tell them what they should and should not see or hear.
cc: alumni networking
http://onwardstate.com/2016/06/10/a...d-for-withholding-franco-harris-speech-video/
“While we respect the opinions offered by this year’s Lion’s Paw Medal recipient, they were out of place at this event,” Clifford said. “The Alumni Association neither endorses nor opposes the content, but we can’t ignore the mixed response expressed by many in attendance and the distraction from the other honored guests in attendance, as well as from our 50th Reunion Class and Penn State Pioneers. Because there was a mixed reaction, we’ve decided not to release the video…we don’t want to do anything to further divide the Penn State family.”
As with any other controversial publication, those who do not like the content are free to not view the video, but my dues and the dues of every other PSAA member helped pay (directly or indirectly) for the event which means those of us who do want to see the video have the right to do so.
I recall that alumni had to file a lawsuit when the PSAA’s leaders, in violation of the organization’s bylaws, tried to keep Jim Smith and Elizabeth Morgan off the ballot last year. Will it be necessary for PSAA’s members to explore a class action lawsuit to gain access to the Franco Harris video? As for dividing the Penn State family, the decision by PSAA’s leadership to tell us what we can and cannot see is presumptuous and over the line, and I personally consider it a deliberately hostile act that invites and even requires a response in kind such as what I just described. In addition, of course, donations to PSAA should be out of the question until the so-called leadership recognizes that its purpose is to serve its members rather than lord it over them and tell them what they should and should not see or hear.
