Tom Corbett's suit against NCAA sanctions divides locals with Penn State ties

Some Lehigh Valley residents with Penn State ties said it doesn’t make sense to revisit penalties the school already approved. Others agreed the NCAA overstepped its authority.

In a bold challenge to the NCAA’s powers, Pennsylvania’s governor claimed in a lawsuit today that college sports’ governing body overstepped its authority and “piled on” when it penalized Penn State over the Jerry Sandusky child molestation scandal.

Gov. Tom Corbett asked that a federal judge throw out the sanctions, which include an unprecedented $60 million fine and a four-year ban on bowl games, arguing that the measures have harmed students, business owners and others who had nothing to do with Sandusky’s crimes.

A small number of top NCAA officials inserted themselves “into an issue they had no authority to police under their own bylaws and one that was clearly being handled by the justice system,” Corbett said at a news conference.

Local Penn State alumni divided on suit

Lehigh Valley residents with Penn State ties had mixed reactions to the suit. Some said it doesn’t make sense to revisit penalties the school already approved. Others agreed the NCAA overstepped its authority.

“I think there’s a lot of room for criticism of the NCAA’s sanctions,” said U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent, a Penn State alumnus whose legislative district includes most of the Lehigh Valley. The Republican lawmaker called it “absolutely unconscionable” that the NCAA sanctions limit scholarships.

Kaila DeRienzo, a recent Penn State graduate from Emmaus, said students were satisfied to have the penalties settled and that it’s strange Corbett is acting now. The university signed off on the sanctions in July and already paid the first $12 million of its fine.

“It feels very strange that now he’s going to play the hero,” DeRienzo said of Corbett. “We’re trying to move on. The more this happens, the more it belabors the healing process, really.”

But others with Penn State ties say they’re behind the governor

Peter Kurecian, a Penn State football season ticket holder since 1972, said the sanctions — handed down before administrators Graham Spanier, Tim Curley and Gary Schultz could be tried on criminal allegations that they covered up Sandusky’s abuse — were premature.

“I think that’s the way all Penn Staters do feel is that the NCAA doesn’t have jurisdiction over this. It should have been handled in the court system,” said Kurecian, of Hellertown. “I’m sure there should have been some penalty, but I think all Penn Staters think the NCAA overstepped its boundaries.”

Mike McGivern, a Liberty High School alumnus who graduated from Penn State in May, said the NCAA sanctions were rushed and might punish the wrong people. But “it’s kind of strange to open the wound” with a new suit, he said, adding, “I think the damage has been done already.”

Dent: Penalty helps and hurts the wrong people

Dent is among state and congressional lawmakers who have objected to use of the NCAA fine to finance child-abuse prevention efforts in other states. An NCAA task force is deciding how it should be spent.

Dent said he’s written several letters to the NCAA encouraging the organization to spend the entire $60 million fine for child-abuse education in Pennsylvania, for which he said he’s gotten an unsatisfactory response. The NCAA told Pennsylvania legislators that they could apply for up to 25 percent of the money but no more, he said.

He said he is also particularly troubled that the NCAA is restricting Penn State to 65 football scholarships instead of the usual 85.

“I think it’s absolutely unconscionable that the NCAA would deny scholarships to students,” Dent said. “They’re punishing students and the NCAA is supposed to be about access to higher education.”

Sunday Editor Douglas B. Brill, reporter Lynn Olanoff and the Associated Press contributed to this report.