"On Friday, I informed the University's Board of Trustees that I will conduct a thorough review of the Freeh Report and supporting materials produced during the course of the investigation. The contents of the report have led to questions by some in the Penn State community. I do not want people to believe that Penn State is hiding something. I feel strongly about this. For this important reason, and since I was not here during its completion, I will conduct my own review. There is considerable documentation to analyze, but I assured the Board I would move with all deliberate speed.
This "decision" by Barron came - literally - moments after the contentious BOT meeting of Friday, November 14th.
Immediately after the meeting, Barron caucused with the Scoundrels....and then released his statement.
To put this in context, you need to remember what was going on at the time.....if you do, it don't take no rocket surgeon to figure out what happened and why.
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This November 14 meeting was the meeting were the Elected Trustees really began to push their case for access to the Freeh File.
It was getting ugly.
Prior to the November meeting, a "special meeting" was held in September. This story - from the Collegian - summarizes that meeting:
SEPTEMBER 2014:
"The tension was palpable today for a special Penn State Board of Trustees meeting in which several crowd members, whose comments to security included "Bite me. Woof, Woof" and "I'm proud to be kicked out, you jackass," were escorted from the room after standing to speak.
Their anger was directed at some members of the board, which gathered for the off-cycle meeting primarily to address a proposed resolution that would reopen former FBI director Louis Freeh's report. The report, released more than two years ago, was an investigation of the university's handling of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse case.
The proposal, introduced by board member Al Lord, was rejected after receiving nine votes in favor - all from the nine alumni-elected trustees - and 17 opposed.
After the meeting, even Lord said he was expecting the proposal's rejection.
In the private executive session of the board earlier that morning, Lord said, dissenting trustees indicated they may be in favor of the proposal. But, he said, they wanted to act at a later date.
"I said, 'You'd be willing to do what we're going to do but wait?' " Lord said.
The alumni-elected trustees, he said, will not give up on this issue.
As the trustees in favor of the proposal regroup and perhaps restrategize, Lord said he knows he has a legal right to access documents related to Freeh's report.
"For the board, ultimately, I thought it'd be better if it did it" as a group, he said.
Bob Jubelirer, an alumni-elected trustee, said he also expected the resolution board to reject the proposal. However, he said, that does not mean he was satisfied with them.
"I hate the way it went. It's awful this kind of thing continues to happen," Jubelirer said. "It's frustrating there are some trustees here who just won't yield."
Trustees opposed included Keith Eckel, a trustee elected by delegates from agricultural societies.
During the meeting, which ran a bit longer than the one hour Chairman Keith Masser had planned, Eckel said he urged the board to defeat the resolution because related civil and criminal cases are pending.
Richard Dandrea, a trustee elected by a board representing business and industry, agreed.
"We could not comprehensively evaluate the Freeh Report while these legal proceedings are pending," Dandrea said.
[EDIT...interestingly...Dicky would later contend that the resolution should be defeated because there WERE NOT any pending cases. You couldn't make this shit up if you tried]
Earlier in the meeting, when Lord was called to the front podium to discuss his proposal, he addressed board members who cited legal proceedings as a factor in their opposition.
"If you feel at all compromised by the various things going on in the legal world and you're on this board and concerned that you can't do the right thing," Lord said, "I would suggest to you that you resign."
The remarks drew applause from the crowd. The packed ballroom was not satisfied for long, though. The meeting was interrupted at least twice when those in the room stood up, wagged fingers and raised voices at the board.
Denise McClellan, who told security she would be honored to be kicked out, came back after the meeting and talked with Jubelirer, thanking him for his remarks at the meeting.
McClellan, an alumna, said she was angered by the way the meeting was set up for the crowded attendees.
"I know I was acting crazy and unruly," McClellan said. But "there was a gag order."
Masser had asked those in attendance, who filled nearly all the seats in the ballroom, not to participate in the proceedings.
After the meeting adjourned, Lord stepped outside the ballroom and got a drink water. A pile of folders and papers in hand, Lord said his thoughts regarding Freeh's report could be incorrect.
But, he said, their accuracy is impossible to ascertain without a reexamination.
"If you just continue," Lord said, "you'll never know."
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This was published in the Collegian before the November 14th meeting.....to give you a reminder of what the tenor was like at the time:
After receiving several threats, Penn State Police will have an added security presence at today's board of trustees meeting, according to a Penn State News release.
The meeting is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. at the Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel.
The board is set to discuss recently released emails regarding investigations into the university's handling of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse case and the NCAA's subsequent imposition of sanctions.
Meeting attendees are asked not to bring "large bags, backpacks, or oversized handbags " into the meeting, according to the release. If they do, they will have the bag searched or be asked to leave.
The security measures are not only a result of threats. They also stem from some board members' desire to "maintain appropriate decorum" at the meeting, according to release.
At a special board meeting last month to discuss reexamining the Freeh Report, several in attendance were escorted out after interrupting proceedings, standing and yelling to board members and security.
