Tag: Pennsylvania State University

Researchers develop incredibly intelligent tech that predicts future disasters: ‘We can create simulations’

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Floods can destroy more than property, taking away the feeling of security that comes with a home.

Researchers from Pennsylvania State University and other institutions may have cracked a big part of the puzzle in ensuring future safety from such disasters. Their model predicts floods with more accuracy and in far less time than older tools. “With our new approach, we can create simulations using the same process, regardless of the region we are trying to simulate,” civil and environmental engineering professor Chaopeng Shen said.

NOAA’s National Water Model is the standard hydrologists rely on. But while it’s trusted, it’s also slow. Traditional calibration involves feeding it decades of river data for every site. One site at a time. Shen described it as “time-consuming, expensive, and tedious.” The team’s new method speeds things up using artificial intelligence systems that can spot patterns in mountains of data.

Instead of having to start over with every river basin, AI can generalize information using past readings. “Rather than approaching each site individually, the neural network applies general principles it interprets from past data to make predictions,” co-author Yalan Song said.

The model still follows physics-based rules about how water behaves, but it quickly adapts to new areas. And while AI is great when it comes to deciphering patterns, rare storms throw a monkey wrench in the works. Song said their model keeps the water physics in place, then allows the network to learn from the messy parts.

This method predicts extreme rainfall much better than older tools. Researchers used 15 years of river data and asked the system to replay 40 years of streamflow. Against real records, its projections landed about 30% closer across 4,000 sites.

“With a trained neural network, we can generate parameters for the entire U.S. within minutes,” Shen said. Work that once took weeks on many supercomputers now is finished in hours on one machine.

Similar methods have been used to design safer solid-state batteries. They can also map city vegetation for cooling plans. Labs even test AI in nuclear fusion research.

MIT News reported that training models uses large amounts of electricity and water. A study by Hugging Face and Carnegie Mellon University found some systems can consume as much electricity as a small country. The industry, however, is moving toward renewable energy, and this could buy families time to save more than just their possessions.

Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives and shaping our future, and don’t miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.

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September 2, 2025
Penn State Scandal Fast Facts | CNN

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CNN
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Here’s a look at the Penn State sexual abuse scandal. On November 4, 2011, a grand jury report was released containing testimony that former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky sexually abused eight young boys over a period of at least 15 years. Officials at Penn State purportedly failed to notify law enforcement after learning about some of these incidents. On December 7, 2011, the number of victims increased to 10. Sandusky was found guilty in 2012.

Included is a timeline of accusations, lists of the charges against Sandusky, a list of involved parties, a post grand jury report timeline, information about The Second Mile charity and Sandusky with links to the grand jury investigation.

Jerry Sandusky

Birth date: January 26, 1944

Birth place: Washington, Pennsylvania

Birth name: Gerald Arthur Sandusky

Marriage: Dorothy “Dottie” (Gross) Sandusky (1966-present)

Children: (all adopted) E.J., Kara, Jon, Jeff, Ray and Matt. The Sanduskys also fostered several children.

Occupation: Assistant football coach at Penn State for 32 years before his retirement, including 23 years as defensive coordinator.

Initially founded by Sandusky in 1977 as a group foster home for troubled boys, but grew into a non-profit organization that “helps young people to achieve their potential as individuals and community members.”

May 25, 2012 – The Second Mile requests court approval in Centre County, Pennsylvania, to transfer its programs to Arrow Child & Family Ministries and shut down.

August 27, 2012 – The Second Mile requests a stay in their petition to transfer its programs to Arrow Child & Family Ministries saying, “this action will allow any pending or future claims filed by Sandusky’s victims to be resolved before key programs or assets are considered for transfer.”

March 2016 – After years of dismantling and distributing assets to Arrow Child & Family Ministries and any remaining funds to the Pennsylvania Attorney General to hold in escrow, the organization is dissolved.

Source: Grand Jury Report

1994-1997 – Sandusky engages in inappropriate conduct with different boys he met separately through The Second Mile program.

1998 – Penn State police and the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare investigate an incident in which the mother of an 11-year-old boy reported that Sandusky showered with her son.

1998 – Psychologist Alycia Chambers tells Penn State police that Sandusky acted the way a pedophile might in her assessment of a case in which the mother of a young boy reported that Sandusky showered with her son and may have had inappropriate contact with him. A second psychologist, John Seasock, reported he found no indication of child abuse.

June 1, 1998 – In an interview, Sandusky admits to showering naked with the boy, saying it was wrong and promising not to do it again. The district attorney advises investigators that no charges will be filed, and the university police chief instructs that the case be closed.

June 1999 – Sandusky retires from Penn State after coaching there for 32 years, but receives emeritus status, with full access to the campus and football facilities.

2000 – James Calhoun, a janitor at Penn State, tells his supervisor and another janitor that he saw Sandusky sexually abusing a young boy in the Lasch Building showers. No one reports the incident to university officials or law enforcement.

March 2, 2002 – Graduate Assistant Mike McQueary tells Coach Joe Paterno that on March 1, he witnessed Sandusky sexually abusing a 10-year-old boy in the Lasch Building showers. On May 7, 2012, prosecutors file court documents to change the date of the assault to on or around February 9, 2001.

March 3, 2002 – Paterno reports the incident to Athletic Director Tim Curley. Later, McQueary meets with Curley and Senior Vice President for Finance and Business Gary Schultz. McQueary testifies that he told Curley and Schultz that he saw Sandusky and the boy engage in anal sex; Curley and Schultz testify they were not told of any such allegation. No law enforcement investigation is launched.

2005 or 2006 – Sandusky befriends another Second Mile participant whose allegations would form the foundation of the multi-year grand jury investigation.

2006 or 2007 – Sandusky begins to spend more time with the boy, taking him to sporting events and giving him gifts. During this period, Sandusky performs oral sex on the boy more than 20 times and the boy performs oral sex on him once.

2008 – The boy breaks off contact with Sandusky. Later, his mother calls the boy’s high school to report her son had been sexually assaulted and the principal bans Sandusky from campus and reports the incident to police. The ensuing investigation reveals 118 calls from Sandusky’s home and cell phone numbers to the boy’s home.

November 2008 – Sandusky informs The Second Mile that he is under investigation. He is removed from all program activities involving children, according to the group.

November 4, 2011 – The grand jury report is released.

November 5, 2011 – Sandusky is arraigned on 40 criminal counts. He is released on $100,000 bail. Curley and Schultz are each charged with one count of felony perjury and one count of failure to report abuse allegations.

November 7, 2011 – Curley and Schultz are both arraigned and resign from their positions.

November 9, 2011 – Paterno announces that he intends to retire at the end of the 2011 football season. Hours later, university trustees announce that President Graham Spanier and Coach Paterno are fired, effective immediately.

November 11, 2011 – McQueary, now a Penn State receivers’ coach, is placed on indefinite administrative leave.

November 14, 2011 – In a phone interview with NBC’s Bob Costas, Sandusky states that he is “innocent” of the charges and claims that the only thing he did wrong was “showering with those kids.”

November 15, 2011 – The Morning Call reports that in a November 8, 2011, email to a former classmate, McQueary says he did stop the 2002 assault he witnessed and talked with police about it.

November 16, 2011 – Representatives of Penn State’s campus police and State College police say they have no record of having received any report from McQueary about his having witnessed the rape of a boy by Sandusky.

November 16, 2011 – A new judge is assigned to the Sandusky case after it is discovered that Leslie Dutchcot, the judge who freed Sandusky on $100,000 bail, volunteered at The Second Mile charity.

November 21, 2011 – It is announced that former FBI Director Louis Freeh will lead an independent inquiry for Penn State into the school’s response to allegations of child sex abuse.

November 22, 2011 – The Patriot-News reports that Children and Youth Services in Pennsylvania has two open cases of child sex abuse against Sandusky. The cases were reported less than two months ago and are in the initial stages of investigation.

November 22, 2011 – The Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts announces that all Centre County Common Pleas Court judges have recused themselves from the Sandusky case. This is to avoid any conflicts of interest due to connections with Sandusky, The Second Mile charity, or Penn State.

November 30, 2011 – The first lawsuit is filed on behalf of a person listed in the complaint as “John Doe,” who says he was 10 years-old when he met Sandusky through The Second Mile charity. His attorneys say Sandusky sexually abused the victim “over one hundred times” and threatened to harm the victim and his family if he alerted anyone to the abuse.

December 2, 2011 – A victim’s attorneys say they have reached a settlement with The Second Mile that allows it to stay in operation but requires it to obtain court approval before transferring assets or closing.

December 3, 2011 – In an interview with The New York Times, Sandusky says, “If I say, ‘No, I’m not attracted to young boys,’ that’s not the truth. Because I’m attracted to young people – boys, girls – I …” His lawyer speaks up at that point to note that Sandusky is not “sexually” attracted to them.

December 7, 2011 – Sandusky is arrested on additional child rape charges, which raises the number of victims from eight to 10 people. He is charged with four counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and two counts of unlawful contact with a minor. He also faces one new count of indecent assault and two counts of endangering a child’s welfare, in addition to a single new count of indecent assault and two counts of corruption of minors.

December 8, 2011 – Sandusky is released on $250,000 bail. He is placed under house arrest and is required to wear an electronic monitoring device. He is also restricted from contacting the victims and possible witnesses, and he must be supervised during any interactions with minors.

December 13, 2011 – Sandusky enters a plea of not guilty and waives his right to a preliminary hearing.

December 16, 2011 – A hearing is held for Curley and Schultz. McQueary testifies he told university officials that he saw Sandusky possibly sexually assaulting a boy in 2002. Following the testimony, the judge rules that the perjury case against Curley and Schultz will go to trial. The incident is later said to have happened in 2001.

January 13, 2012 – Curley and Schultz enter pleas of not guilty for their failure to report child sex abuse.

January 22, 2012 – Paterno dies at the age of 85.

February 14, 2012 – Penn State says that the Sandusky case has cost the university $3.2 million thus far in combined legal, consultant and public relations fees.

June 11, 2012 – The Sandusky trial begins. On June 22, Sandusky is found guilty on 45 counts after jurors deliberate for almost 21 hours. His bail is immediately revoked, and he is taken to jail.

June 30, 2012 – McQueary’s contract as assistant football coach ends.

July 12, 2012 – Freeh announces the findings of the investigation into Penn State’s actions concerning Sandusky. The report accuses the former leaders at Penn State of showing “total and consistent disregard” for child sex abuse victims, while covering up the attacks of a longtime sexual predator.

July 23, 2012 – The NCAA announces a $60 million fine against Penn State and bans the team from the postseason for four years. Additionally, the school must vacate all wins from 1998-2011 and will lose 20 football scholarships a year for four seasons.
– The Big Ten Conference rules that Penn State’s share of bowl revenues for the next four seasons – roughly $13 million will be donated to charities working to prevent child abuse.

August 24, 2012 – “Victim 1” files a lawsuit against Penn State.

September 20, 2012 – Penn State hires Feinberg Rozen LLP (headed by Kenneth Feinberg who oversaw the 9/11 and BP oil spill victim funds).

October 2, 2012 – McQueary files a whistleblower lawsuit against Penn State.

October 8, 2012 – An audio statement from Sandusky airs in which he protests his innocence and says he is falsely accused.

October 9, 2012 – Sandusky is sentenced to no less than 30 years and no more than 60 years in prison. During the hearing, Sandusky is designated a violent sexual offender.

October 15, 2012 – Plaintiff “John Doe,” a 21-year-old male, files a lawsuit against Sandusky, Penn State, The Second Mile, Spanier, Curley and Schultz. Doe alleges that he would not have been assaulted by Sandusky if officials, who were aware he was molesting boys, had not covered up his misconduct.

November 1, 2012 – The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania files eight charges against former Penn State President Spanier. The charges include perjury and endangering the welfare of a child. Former university Vice President Schultz and former Athletic Director Curley face the same charges, according to Attorney General Linda Kelly.

November 15, 2012 – The Middle States Commission on Higher Education lifts its warning and reaffirms Penn State’s accreditation.

January 30, 2013 – Judge John M. Cleland denies Sandusky’s appeal for a new trial.

July 30, 2013 – A judge rules that Spanier, Curley and Schultz will face trial on obstruction of justice and other charges.

August 26, 2013 – Attorneys announce Sandusky’s adopted son and six other victims have finalized settlement agreements.

October 2, 2013 – The Superior Court of Pennsylvania denies Sandusky’s appeal.

October 28, 2013 – Penn State announces it has reached settlements with 26 victims of Sandusky. The amount paid by the university totals $59.7 million.

April 2, 2014 – The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania also denies Sandusky’s appeal.

September 8, 2014 – NCAA ends Penn State’s postseason ban and scholarship limits. The $60 million fine and the 13 years of vacated wins for Paterno remain in place.

January 16, 2015 – The NCAA agrees to restore 111 of Paterno’s wins as part of a settlement of the lawsuit brought by State Senator Jake Corman and Treasurer Rob McCord. Also, as part of the settlement, Penn State agrees to commit $60 million to the prevention and treatment of child sexual abuse.

December 23, 2015 – A spokeswoman for the State of Pennsylvania employee retirement system says Sandusky will receive $211,000 in back payments and his regular pension payments will resume. This is the result of a November 13 court ruling that reversed a 2012 decision to terminate Sandusky’s pension under a state law that allows the termination of pensions of public employees convicted of a “disqualifying crime.” The judge said in his ruling that Sandusky was not employed at the time of the crimes he was convicted of committing.

January 22, 2016 – A three-judge panel reverses the obstruction of justice and conspiracy charges against Spanier, Curley and Schultz, and the perjury charges against Spanier and Curley.

May 4, 2016 – A new allegation purports Paterno knew that his assistant coach Sandusky was sexually abusing a child as early as 1976, according to a new court filing. The ongoing lawsuit, filed in 2013, seeks to determine whether Penn State or its insurance policy is liable for paying Sandusky’s victims. At least 30 men were involved in a civil settlement with Penn State, and the number of victims could be higher.

May 6, 2016 – CNN reports the story of another alleged victim who explains how he was a troubled young kid in 1971 when Sandusky raped him in a Penn State bathroom. He says his complaint about it was ignored by Paterno.

July 12, 2016 – Newly unsealed court documents allege that Paterno knew about Sandusky’s abuse and that he dismissed a victim’s complaint.

August 12, 2016 – In a bid for a new trial, Sandusky testifies at a post-conviction hearing claiming his lawyers bungled his 2012 trial. On the stand, Sandusky describes what he said as bad media and legal advice given to him by his former lawyer, Joseph Amendola.

November 3, 2016 – The Department of Education fines Penn State $2.4 million for violating the Clery Act, a law that requires universities to report crime on campuses. It’s the largest fine in the history of the act.

March 13, 2017 – Curley and Schultz plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of endangering the welfare of children in exchange for the dismissal of felony charges.

March 24, 2017 – Spanier is found guilty on one misdemeanor count of endangering the welfare of a child. Spanier was acquitted of more serious allegations, including conspiracy charges and a felony count of child endangerment.

June 2, 2017 – Spanier and two other former administrators are sentenced to jail terms for failing to report a 2001 allegation that Sandusky was molesting young boys. Spanier whose total sentence is four to 12 months incarceration, will be on probation for two years and must pay a $7,500 fine, according to Joe Grace, a spokesman for Pennsylvania’s attorney general’s office.

– Curley is sentenced to seven to 23 months’ incarceration and two years’ probation, Grace said. He will serve three months in jail followed by house arrest and pay a $5,000 fine.

– Schultz is sentenced to six to 23 months’ incarceration and two years’ probation. He will serve two months in jail, followed by house arrest and pay a $5,000 fine, according to Grace.

January 9, 2018 – Penn State reports that the total amount of settlement awards paid to Sandusky’s victims is now over $109 million.

February 5, 2019 – In response to an appeal for a new trial that also questions the validity of mandatory minimum sentencing, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania orders Sandusky to be re-sentenced. The request for a new trial is denied.

April 30, 2019 – US Magistrate Judge Karoline Mehalchick vacates Spanier’s 2017 conviction for endangering the welfare of a child. Spanier was set to be sentenced on the one count conviction, instead, the court ordered the conviction be vacated because it was based on a criminal statute that did not go into effect until after the conduct in question. The state has 90 days to retry him, according to court documents. The following month, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro appeals the judge’s decision to throw out the conviction.

November 22, 2019 – Sandusky is resentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison, the same penalty that was previously overturned. The initial sentence of at least 30 years in prison was overturned by the Pennsylvania Superior Court, which found that mandatory minimum sentences were illegally imposed.

March 26, 2020 – The US Office for Civil Rights finds that Penn State failed to protect students who filed sexual harassment complaints. OCR completed the compliance review after it was initially launched in 2014, and found that the University violated Title IX for several years, in various ways. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announces that the US Department of Education and the university have entered into a resolution agreement that compels Penn State to address deficiencies in their complaint process, reporting policy requirements, record keeping, and training of staff, university police and other persons who work with students.

December 1, 2020 – Spanier’s conviction is restored by a federal appeals court.

May 26, 2021 – A judge rules that Spanier will start his two month prison sentence on July 9. Spanier reports to jail early and is released on August 4 after serving 58 days.

Sandusky Verdict

Victim 1
Count 1 – guilty: Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse (Felony 1)
Count 2 – guilty: Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse (Felony 1)
Count 3 – guilty: Indecent Assault (Felony 3)
Count 4 – guilty: Unlawful Contact with Minors (Felony 1)
Count 5 – guilty: Corruption of Minors (Misdemeanor 1)
Count 6 – guilty: Endangering Welfare of Children (Felony 3)

Victim 2
Count 7 – not guilty: Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse (Felony 1)
Count 8 – guilty: Indecent Assault (Misdemeanor 2)
Count 9 – guilty: Unlawful Contact with Minors (Felony 1)
Count 10 – guilty: Corruption of Minors (Misdemeanor 1)
Count 11 – guilty: Endangering Welfare of Children (Misdemeanor 1)

Victim 3
Count 12 – guilty: Indecent Assault (Misdemeanor 2)
Count 13 – guilty: Unlawful Contact with Minors (Felony 3)
Count 14 – guilty: Corruption of Minors (Misdemeanor 1)
Count 15 – guilty: Endangering Welfare of Children (Felony 3)

Victim 4
Count 16 – ****DROPPED****: Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse (Felony 1)
Count 17 – guilty: Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse (Felony 1)
Count 18 – ****DROPPED*****: Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse (Felony 1)
Count 19 – ****DROPPED*****: Aggravated Indecent Assault (Felony 2)
Count 20 – guilty: Indecent Assault (Misdemeanor 2)
Count 21 – guilty: Unlawful Contact with Minors (Felony 1)
Count 22 – guilty: Corruption of Minors (Misdemeanor 1)
Count 23 – guilty” Endangering Welfare of Children (Felony 3)

Victim 5
Count 24 – not guilty: Indecent Assault (Misdemeanor 1)
Count 25 – guilty: Unlawful Contact with Minors (Felony 3)
Count 26 – guilty: Corruption of Minors (Misdemeanor 1)
Count 27 – guilty: Endangering Welfare of Children (Felony 3)

Victim 6
Count 28 – not guilty: Indecent Assault (Misdemeanor 1)
Count 29 – guilty: Unlawful Contact with Minors (Felony 3)
Count 30 – guilty: Corruption of Minors (Misdemeanor 1)
Count 31 – guilty: Endangering Welfare of Children (Misdemeanor 1)

Victim 7
Count 32 – guilty: Criminal Attempt to Commit Indecent Assault (Misdemeanor 2)
Count 33 – ****DROPPED****: WITHDRAWN BY PROSECUTORS (unlawful contact with minors)
Count 34 – guilty: Corruption of Minors (Misdemeanor 1)
Count 35 – guilty: Endangering Welfare of Children (Misdemeanor 1)

Victim 8
Count 36 – guilty: Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse (Felony 1)
Count 37 – guilty: Indecent Assault (Misdemeanor 2)
Count 38 – guilty: Unlawful Contact with Minors (Felony 1)
Count 39 – guilty: Corruption of Minors (Misdemeanor 1)
Count 40 – guilty: Endangering Welfare of Children (Misdemeanor 1)

(Due to 2nd indictment, counts start over with Victims 9 and 10)

Victim 9
Count 1 – guilty: Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse (Felony 1)
Count 2 – guilty: Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse (Felony 1)
Count 3 – guilty: Indecent Assault (Felony 3)
Count 4 – guilty: Unlawful Contact with Minors (Felony 1)
Count 5 – guilty: Corruption of Minors (Misdemeanor 1)
Count 6 – guilty: Endangering Welfare of Children (Felony 3)

Victim 10
Count 7 – guilty: Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse (Felony 1)
Count 8 – guilty: Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse (Felony 1)
Count 9 – guilty: Indecent Assault (Misdemeanor 1)
Count 10 – guilty: Unlawful Contact with Minors (Felony 1)
Count 11 – guilty: Corruption of Minors (Misdemeanor 1)
Count 12 – guilty: Endangering Welfare of Children (Felony 3)

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April 24, 2024
All flights grounded at airport near Penn State University over suspicious device, 100 passengers bused to campus | CNN

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CNN
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All flights were grounded at University Park Airport in Pennsylvania Friday as authorities investigated a suspicious device in a checked bag, forcing about 100 passengers to be bused out of the area and the airport to close until Saturday, officials said.

The airport in State College, located less than five miles from the Penn State University campus, was closed to air traffic and passengers while an explosives device team and local police examined the contents of the bag, which was checked on a flight en route to Chicago, Penn State University Police and Public Safety said in a statement.

The “suspicious” contents were later determined to not be an explosive device, Penn State spokeswoman Lisa Marie Powers told CNN late Friday.

The item had been detected by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers at the airport, according to TSA spokesperson Lisa Farbstein. Local police officers and FBI officials were also on site, she said.

“The immediate area was evacuated and a perimeter established,” Farbstein said in a statement, adding bomb technicians would be looking at the bag and its contents.

The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground stop for the airport “due to security.” The airport will reopen early Saturday morning, police said.

The airport closure took place as Penn State students were gearing up for their Spring Break travel plans next week. Buses from the university came to the airport to transport about 100 passengers to the campus, where they were offered shelter and given food, according to police.

The University Park Airport calls itself “a home town airport with a world of destinations,” according to its Facebook page. It says four airlines – Allegiant, Delta, United, and American airlines – offer regularly scheduled flights to and from major hub cities including Detroit, Philadelphia and Washington/Dulles.

Earlier in the day, the general passenger terminal at the airport was evacuated “out of an abundance of caution,” police said. There were no incoming or outgoing flights scheduled when the evacuation took place.

The investigation at the airport comes just days after federal agents arrested a Pennsylvania man after he allegedly tried to bring explosives in his suitcase on a flight from Lehigh Valley International Airport in Allentown to Florida.

Marc Muffley, 40, faces two charges, according to a federal complaint, including possession of an explosive in an airport and possessing or attempting to place an explosive or incendiary device on an aircraft.

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March 3, 2023
How the Fate of a “Racial-Justice Center” Ensnarled Penn State’s New President in Controversy

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During her first few months as president of Pennsylvania State University, Neeli Bendapudi began to have doubts about a planned multimillion-dollar Center for Racial Justice that had been envisioned by her predecessor, Eric J. Barron, in the wake of the murder of George Floyd in the summer of 2020. Bendapudi’s skepticism, honed over a two-month listening tour, essentially boiled down to a belief that a $3.5-million center that would centralize antiracism research and advise the administration on equity-related policies would not address the university’s most urgent needs.

How Bendapudi arrived at and conveyed her decision to scrap the center, through a series of ill-timed, tense, in-person and virtual meetings with a rolling cast of administrators, faculty, and students, has resulted in widespread confusion, roiling protests, and a ubiquitous belief among faculty and students that she is not earnestly committed to racial justice. Her decision, faculty members said in a petition now signed by 400 people, adds to a “long list of broken promises on issues of racial justice by Penn State.”

“This center represented a very important symbol, and she took that away from us,” said Gary King, a Penn State professor of biobehavioral health and African American studies. “The very name itself stated something that Penn State had never done.”

The Chronicle spent several days at University Park, Penn State’s largest campus, speaking to administrators, faculty, and students, and pouring through emails, campus announcements, and videos of press conferences and town halls to piece together the series of events that’s left this sprawling system sharply divided over how to fight racism and has placed its new president on the defense.

“I messed up on the communication,” Bendapudi said during an interview with The Chronicle last month. “I have been an unapologetic, staunch advocate for diversity and equity for a long time. That’s not new, and that’s not going to change. I 100-percent stand behind my decision as my best judgment of what is right for this institution.”

The falling out illustrates the sort of landmines university leaders have faced in recent years when trying to communicate and build support for racial-justice efforts.

At Penn State, there’s widespread agreement that the university, for a variety of reasons, has struggled to recruit and retain students of color, despite Black and Latino students making up a growing portion of Pennsylvania’s high-school graduates. The university, which is rapidly losing enrollment, now faces a budget deficit of more than $191 million.

Critics of Bendapudi say that the Center for Racial Justice would compile racial-disparity data from across the 24-campus system, employ scholars to evaluate that data, and craft universitywide approaches to close those disparities. “One of the hopes was that the center could … compel the university to be very self-reflective and self-critical in acknowledging the ways that it has contributed to and maintained racism,” said Ashley Patterson, a professor in the College of Education.

The decision not to fund the Center for Racial Justice adds to a “long list of broken promises on issues of racial justice by Penn State.”

Other universities — including William & Mary college and Dillard University, a private, historically Black university in Louisiana — have established similar racial-justice centers in recent years. In January, the state of Pennsylvania awarded Temple University a $1.3-million grant to build the Center for Anti-Racism.

But Bendapudi, along with several other Penn State administrators The Chronicle spoke to, insisted that the university needs to focus on measurable goals, such as closing graduation gaps between students of color and white students, growing and diversifying the faculty, promoting staff of color, and improving the sense of belonging among faculty and students on campus. Bendapudi says institutions of higher education have historically not prioritized these issues.

“My concern is that, frankly, every single university is establishing these centers, and I think that’s a great idea,” Bendapudi said during a town hall in November. “But I also worry that is not necessarily what will move the needle for us.”

When she was hired by Penn State’s board in December 2021, many expected Bendapudi, a former banking executive who was born and raised in India, to champion racial- and social-justice efforts. As the president of the University of Louisville, she cut ties with John Schnatter, founder of the Papa Johns pizza chain who had donated more than $40 million to the university, after he used the N-word on a conference call. She was also behind the university’s decision to rename the Papa Johns football stadium.

In the summer of 2020 Bendapudi coined Louisville’s “Cardinal Anti-Racism Agenda,” a list of recommendations that were slated to be finished by September 2020. She said she wanted to make Louisville a “premiere antiracist metropolitan university.” Breonna Taylor, who had been shot and killed by police in the same city, was an emergency-room technician at the university’s medical center.

As part of the new agenda, administrators would dedicate resources toward improving the retention and graduation rates of Black male students, encourage social-justice-related research, and revamp the Bias Incident Response Team, among other things. But student activists said that Louisville’s failure to cut ties with the local police department rendered its other commitments “performative.”

When Bendapudi arrived at Penn State, administrators and faculty were in the throes of attempting to devise a new strategy for addressing racial disparities on campus. Black students make up just 5 percent of the university’s overall enrollment, and Latino students make up about 7 percent. The university’s faculty is 3 percent Black. In a recent study, eight out of 10 Black professors said they experienced racism at the university. At least 70 percent said they didn’t believe that the academic culture at Penn State is one that encourages the pursuit of learning, teaching, and scholarship for Black Americans.

In the summer of 2020, amid nationwide protests after the killing of George Floyd, Penn State’s then-President Eric J. Barron promised to commit to changing the university’s diversity and inclusivity efforts. He convened a task force to review the Student Code of Conduct, initiated mandatory bias training for all employees and students, and worked with the faculty senate to find ways to increase the hiring and retention of diverse faculty members, among other things, according to a university press release. He assigned a separate commission the task of creating a list of recommendations for how the university should tackle bias and racism.

That fall, the commission released a list of four recommendations. They wanted the university to establish a Truth and Reconciliation Process to address its past and present policies that excluded faculty and students of color, fund antiracist research, create a fellowship dedicated to antiracist work, and establish a new antiracist scholarly center or consortium, which was later referred to as the Center for Racial Justice.

This center represented a very important symbol, and she took that away from us.

“The university’s current approaches to DEI do not engage fully or honestly with the aspirations and commitments expressed in [the university’s strategic plan] … and [they] further enable the racism and bias that disproportionately impact the most vulnerable among us,” the proposal said.

Barron saw hope with the fourth proposal to build the Center for Racial Justice. In March, he set aside $3.5 million and created a search committee to find the center’s director.

When Bendapudi began as Penn State’s president in May, she said she met with the deans and chancellors at every campus and asked them for their opinions on the most urgent needs around diversity. “For a two-month period there was not a conversation where we didn’t talk about diversity,” Bendapudi said. “I was truly trying to figure out, in every conversation, ‘tell me about diversity, what is happening? What is the biggest challenge?’”

Campus leaders were most concerned about the support and retention of students of color, she said. They didn’t talk explicitly about the Center for Racial Justice, so she came to the conclusion that a new center may not be the most economical or effective approach.

Around the same time, Bendapudi told the campus that administrators would have to institute a hiring freeze, effective August 1, due to stagnant state funding and enrollment losses coming out of the pandemic.

On September 7, Bendapudi met with the committee searching for a director of the center and told them that the university was having a budget crisis and had not yet set aside $3.5 million for the center.

A week later, King wrote a letter to the editor in The Daily Collegian quoting Langston Hughes’ poem, “A Dream Deferred,” citing a long list of disparities between Black and white faculty members and referencing a “rumor” that the center may not be created.

“I suspect that Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi has had less time to enjoy a ‘summer honeymoon’ as the incoming president of our great university,” he wrote. “Perhaps some of us were under the illusion that having a person of color as the head of the university and a Black chief of staff would automatically ‘fix the problem …’ We cannot and should not simply trust the administration or the Board of Trustees to do the right thing. I truly hope it is not the case that they have run out of will, rather than having run out of money. Because where there is a will, there is surely a way.”

On October 6, the search committee sent Bendapudi an email urging her to be transparent with the university about the “setback” and suggesting that establishing a new timeline for the center or an alternative plan would be better actions to take.

“Penn State does not have a solid reputation for adequately addressing social injustices, inclusion, and racism,” they said. “Without such a reputation, this cancellation is likely to affect the ability of the university to recruit and retain top faculty, who may strengthen existing or create new revenue streams, lead by example in this space, and produce critical new scholarship and public activity around race and the study of it.”

Lea Millis, Reuters via Redux
Protests became violent ahead of an event at Penn State featuring Gavin McInnes, founder of the Proud Boys. The event was canceled by administrators.

In early October, Gavin McInnes, founder of the white supremacy organization the Proud Boys, was invited to the campus by a student group. At first, administrators resisted calls from students and faculty to cancel his appearance, citing the importance of free speech.

But on October 24, hundreds of students, faculty, and alumni gathered to protest. One held up a sign that read “racists off our campus.” The protest grew violent, and state troopers rode in on horseback. At least one physical altercation started, and both police and protesters unleashed chemical spray. In response to the “escalating violence,” administrators abruptly canceled the Proud Boys event, chiding protesters in the process.

“We have encouraged peaceful protest, and, while protest is an acceptable means of expression, it becomes unacceptable when it obstructs the basic exchange of ideas,” the university’s administrators said in a statement. “Such obstruction is a form of censorship, no matter who initiates it or for what reasons. The University expects that people engaging in expressive activity will demonstrate civility, concern for the safety of persons and property, respect for University activities and for those who may disagree with their message, and will comply with University rules.”

On October 26, Penn State issued a universitywide statement that it would not fund the Center for Racial Justice.

“I have determined that enhancing support for current efforts by people who know Penn State best will be more impactful than investing in a new venture, and so we will not pursue efforts to launch a Center for Racial Justice,” Bendapudi said in the statement.

Lea Millis, Reuters via Redux
The crowd of protesters included students, faculty, and alumni.

The backlash was swift.

In a November email to administrators, “concerned faculty” from the department of curriculum and instruction at Penn State’s College of Education said the announcement to defund the Center for Racial Justice had been done insensitively and was poorly timed. “We are troubled to see that recent statements and actions of the University at large are complacent at best, perpetuating practices that are long overdue for renewal,” the email said. “Our interpretation of the goals recently announced to the Board are a regression from bold, antiracist commitments to infusing equity at all levels of University operations toward the type of outdated, uninspired undertaking of diversity and multiculturalism goals akin to those touted in the 1990s — both in spirit and in rhetoric.”

Rumor and speculation began to fly. The shuttering of the center was seen by some as retaliation for the counterprotest of the Proud Boys event. Others pointed a finger at the Board of Trustees, claiming that its members forced Bendapudi to get rid of the center. The board denied those claims.

“Dr. Bendapudi impressed the Board of Trustees and the Presidential Recruitment and Selection Committee with her considerable experience, effective outcomes, and her career-long history of antiracism work,” Penn State’s board said in an email to The Chronicle. “As indicated previously, the Board supports the work and actions President Bendapudi is taking to update our University operations and align our efforts with our key strategic priorities — one of which is ensuring DEIB throughout our entire University ecosystem.”

The week before Thanksgiving break, Bendapudi appointed Jennifer Hamer, a professor of African American studies and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies, to lead a universitywide effort to evaluate the diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging recommendations, programs, and research across the university’s 24 campuses.

During a recent virtual town hall, Bendapudi stressed the importance of supporting employees who were already doing equity-related work. She answered questions fielded by two faculty members.

“How would the university attract students of color now that the center has been canceled?” “How does the administration plan to establish shared governance and include faculty in its decision making?” “What do you tell faculty and staff who put scholarly research into a recommendation for a center for racial justice?”

Faculty members felt that the format of the town hall, which did not allow them to directly question Bendapudi, left them with little trust in the administration.

“The town hall with a highly mediated question-submission process is an underwhelming approach to building trust,” faculty members from the department of curriculum and instruction wrote in their November letter to Bendapudi. “While we believe communication is key and appreciate University leadership’s stated commitments to building trust, we see the town hall in its current format as giving the impression that only those questions that University administration wants to answer will be considered and addressed.”

When asked during the town hall what she wanted to say to faculty members who are disappointed in her decision to not follow through with the center, Bendapudi asked for patience.

“The timing of the whole thing was terrible, and I know how much pain it caused,” she said. “But my heart is in this work. My commitment is in this work.”

Throughout the town hall, Bendapudi stressed the importance of working together to meet the newly established goals of the administration.

“I ask for a little time and a little grace.”

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Oyin Adedoyin

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December 22, 2022