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PENN STATE UNIVERSITY MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 18, 2011

David Joyner

DR. DAVID JOYNER: I want to welcome everyone here. I'm sorry that we're here for this reason. First and foremost, I want to tell you how saddened I am for the victims in this case.
Given that, President Ericson reached out to me and asked me to take on this challenge and I'm deeply honored that he would do that.
My mission here has begun. I'm going to align our core values in intercollegiate athletics with the rest of the academic units. We have a noble purpose here at this university and it doesn't just stop in the classroom, it continues on to the athletic fields, which in my opinion are just another classroom where young people learn to be successful.
Given that, I can consider myself the dean of the College of Intercollegiate Athletics. With that, I've begun meeting with staff, players, coaches. I began that yesterday - had a whirlwind day - to try to let them know that I'm here to help, that I'm here to do the right thing.
We will continue to do this over the next few weeks while taking care of the day-to-day business of the College of Intercollegiate Athletics. We will live our noble purpose to educate young people.
With that, I'll take your questions.

Q. If you would indulge me for a moment, you have been a trustee since 2000. Can you tell me if the Board was ever informed of any of the alleged sexual assaults by Coach Sandusky, particularly the 2002 incident, and if not why not?
DR. DAVID JOYNER: The first I learned of any of this was in March of this year when the Harrisburg Patriot News did a story, there was a leak I guess in the grand jury investigation. That's the first I knew about it. I can't speak for others.
We were informed of the particular specifics of this on the Saturday. Gosh, time has gone so fast. It was the Saturday of our off weekend, I guess, that I was informed.

Q. Your charter states that the Board has the complete responsibility for the government and welfare of the university and all the interests pertaining to students, faculty, staff and alumni. If President Spanier knew in 2002, why wasn't the Board informed?
DR. DAVID JOYNER: I don't know the answer to that question.

Q. President Ericson has talked about a new day at Penn State, a new day of transparency. With all due respect to you, you are an insider at Penn State. You were a football player, a wrestler, you've been on the Board since 2000. What assurance can you give to the alumni, to the community, to the nation, that what some critics have called a 'culture of denial' here at Penn State will not continue?
DR. DAVID JOYNER: Well, first of all, it's hard to find somebody that wasn't educated at Penn State, at least in this community. And I grew up here. Yes, I was a student-athlete at Penn State, I've been affiliated with the university for many years.
That doesn't affect me. People that know me know my mantra is to do the right thing every time. They will learn about us. No matter what they say about me being an insider, as you watch what I do, watch how this university behaves, you will know and appreciate that I'm about doing the right thing.

Q. Mr. Joyner, can you expand what you just said about aligning athletic's core values with the rest of academic units? Are you making an inference that there was something wrong with the athletics' role with this university prior to the last couple weeks?
DR. DAVID JOYNER: I knew you were going to ask me somehow.
No, I don't mean that. I'm here to make sure they're aligned. I'm not an insider. I wasn't affiliated directly with the athletic program. But I am just here to tell you that whatever has or has not gone on in the past, we're going to go forward in the athletic department with my view, which is very much aligned with President Ericson's view, that this is an academic unit.
What value is sport except to educate our youth and teach people about hard work, dedication, honor and integrity? If we've lost some of that luster because of things that have happened, I can tell you I've never lost that core value, and this athletic department will reflect that core value.

Q. You played for Coach Paterno, correct?
DR. DAVID JOYNER: I did.

Q. Can you talk about how you personally felt about the Board's decision to fire him.
DR. DAVID JOYNER: First of all, I'm very saddened, first and foremost, for the victims to which this has happened. I'm also, as a lot of us here in this community and in the world, are very saddened by things that have happened totally. That's number one.
Number two, John Surma, Vice Chairman Surma, stated that it was a unanimous decision on the Board.

Q. Can you talk about your experience with Joe Paterno and what your feeling was when you learned about all these allegations.
DR. DAVID JOYNER: I used the word 'saddened.' I felt terrible that there were these allegations at this university at all and for individuals that were involved.

Q. But did you feel that Coach Paterno needed to do more, in your mind?
DR. DAVID JOYNER: Well, the Board decision was unanimous and I think that speaks for itself. I'm part of the Board.

Q. Can you talk about your experience with Coach Paterno.
DR. DAVID JOYNER: Sure, when I played?
My experiences with Coach Paterno were always positive as a player. I was here for four years playing. He was a good teacher. He taught me about life and everything. So back then I had a great relationship with Coach Paterno. I value my time playing football here.

Q. When will the process of selecting a new head coach take place?
DR. DAVID JOYNER: At the appropriate time. We're very aware that processes must go on to keep the business of all athletics moving forward, football included. But we're involved right now, we have a couple of regular-season games left. With any luck, maybe one or two more. We need to pay attention, those players and the coaches, to pay attention that they have to do their job right now.
Trust me, we understand this is a very necessary step and at the appropriate time we will act expeditiously.

Q. Is there a timetable? Do you want to have a new head coach named by January, February, March?
DR. DAVID JOYNER: There hasn't been a timetable set. We are obviously going to huddle on that and we're going to have a head coach in place at a time that will enable us to carry the business of football forward. But we want to have the right head coach.

Q. Is Tom Bradley's name in the mix?
DR. DAVID JOYNER: Anybody's name is in the mix that wants to apply for the head coaching job.

Q. Some have said the rest of the season should be canceled or that bowls should not extend invitations to Penn State. What is your thought on that?
DR. DAVID JOYNER: I understand people's feelings. This is a terrible time for the victims and everybody else. I think you saw at the Nebraska game that we could be respectful and move forward in taking care of appropriate business. And I think you're going to see that type of attitude move forward in the rest of these games.
We have got a lot of young men that have made commitments to their duty on that football team. So on that side you have a wish for them not to be penalized because they were not the instruments of this problem.
So, yes, there are lots of viewpoints. You'll read more of them, I'm sure. My personal feeling is we can move forward very respectfully, continue the season, and show people how to do it the right way.

Q. Including a bowl game?
DR. DAVID JOYNER: Yes.

Q. Are you going to pick a new football coach or a new athletic director first? What is the process for that?
DR. DAVID JOYNER: Well, I'm the acting athletic director and I'll be here as long as it takes and whatever time frame that is. The athletic director, acting athletic director, will be here for selecting a coach and perhaps quite a while after that.

Q. Are you going to help to pick the athletic director and have that person pick the coach or are you going to pick the coach?
DR. DAVID JOYNER: No, I'll help pick the coach.

Q. Can you confirm or deny that the Joe Paterno statue might go?
DR. DAVID JOYNER: There's been absolutely no discussion of doing that.

Q. You talked about athletics becoming one more classroom. Again, are you talking about athletics becoming right sized in the university? Do you believe that athletics has overstepped its bounds, particularly the power and influence of Coach Paterno over the running of the university?
DR. DAVID JOYNER: Well, first of all, I've always believed that athletics are an academic unit. That's my own personal belief. You can read my background. My background I think speaks to that. So that's no change for me, all right? That's no change for a lot of people around here. If because of situations that are different for some, that may be the case.
That was about 12 questions, so go ahead and give me the second one.

Q. Did the power of the athletic department at Penn State contribute to this tragedy?
DR. DAVID JOYNER: I think that remains to be seen as we get into the investigations that are ongoing. I can tell you this. If that is the case, the way that that doesn't happen is by this College of Intercollegiate Athletics and that attitude about how life should be for all students.

Q. So there will be change?
DR. DAVID JOYNER: I'm sure there will be change. There's always change when you come in and have a new process, yes.

Q. So if the Board wasn't made aware of allegations for Coach Sandusky until March of this year when the Patriot News reported it, was that a mistake made by university counsel not to alert the board?
DR. DAVID JOYNER: Honest answer, I can't answer that question. Not because I don't want to. I don't know the legalities of what's allowed to be shared or what's not allowed to be shared at a certain time. That was a grand jury investigation, and I'm not an attorney, but I understand a little bit that technically that was to be very confidential, and somehow it was leaked by someone to the paper, otherwise there would not have been an article at that time.

Q. I'm not necessarily referring to the grand jury investigation. I was more referring to the police investigation from 1998.
DR. DAVID JOYNER: 1998.

Q. Then the allegations, the investigation in 2002.
DR. DAVID JOYNER: I don't know the answer to that. If the reporting process occurred correctly, and I'm not saying it did, but if the reporting process occurred correctly and things were handled, I can't go back. I'd have to go back and look and have been involved in those decisions whether or not that should have been. I think certainly any major issue, the Board would want to know about it.

Q. Would you be able to get back with us on that?
DR. DAVID JOYNER: Sure, sometime. I don't know when I'd have an answer for you.

Q. Did you agree with the exemption from the public open records sought by President Spanier in 2008? Did the Board agree with that decision?
DR. DAVID JOYNER: You're talking about the public records on salaries and things like that?

Q. Yes. In 2008, Spanier testified to have Penn State exempt from the Public Open Records Act.
DR. DAVID JOYNER: That was an executive decision by the president, the then president. I believe in doing what's right. So whatever is supposed to happen by law, whatever is supposed to happen by obligation, should happen.
I don't have enough information to tell you exactly what I would have done at that time, if that answers your question.

Q. Did Spanier first offer to resign before the Board of Trustees decided to remove him? There's been a couple press reports saying that he first offered to resign before he was fired.
DR. DAVID JOYNER: I don't know the exact discussions, what the nature of those discussions were. But the agreement was reached by the chairman and the vice chairman, and then the Board ratified that, if you will.

Q. Why would they decide to remove him instead of letting him step down on his own?
DR. DAVID JOYNER: I think there are contractual reasons why. One may be different than the other, why those decisions are made. I'm sure that those discussions went on.
Just like anything in business, there are certain obligations that you have with contracts, et cetera, that may dictate the exact form and substance of how somebody departs. That I'm sure went into those decisions.

Q. For example, would it impact his pension?
DR. DAVID JOYNER: I'm sure that could be part of the considerations. There's many, many things, very detailed, that would impact that kind of discussion. I don't have all the information to be able to answer that.

Q. Did he or did Paterno offer any defense of themselves to the Board? I know that Paterno wanted to resign at the end of the season, coach the last few games, but instead was removed immediately. Did he offer any sort of defense of his actions?
DR. DAVID JOYNER: Not that I'm aware. To the Board?

Q. Yes, to the Board.
DR. DAVID JOYNER: Not that I remember or that I'm aware of.

Q. How confident was the Board in the description in the grand jury report of who knew what, particularly with Curley and Schultz?
DR. DAVID JOYNER: I'm not sure I understand the question. I mean, there was a public record of the (indiscernible) which we were all aware of and actually have read and understood those details.

Q. For example, in the case of Paterno, I guess I feel that the Board would have had to have been pretty confident that the grand jury report, that the testimony in the grand jury report, was accurate when they decided to remove him before the end of the season.
DR. DAVID JOYNER: Well, you have quotes from a lot of people in the grand jury report under oath of what they said. That's public record. Certainly those things are part of our consideration.

Q. Do you know why the Board decided to go through with the land transfer to the Second Mile in 2002, the same month that Sandusky was barred from bringing people on campus because of the investigation?
DR. DAVID JOYNER: To my knowledge, it was done because we thought it was a good idea. I have no knowledge of any reason other than that it was an appropriate thing to do.

Q. Franco Harris told me yesterday he thought the firing of Paterno had nothing to do with the scandal; he lost a power struggle with the Board. I want you to comment on what he has to say. Does it have any validity?
DR. DAVID JOYNER: No. I mean, we made a decision based on what the circumstances were at this time and we felt that that decision was in the best interest of all parties involved, including the university and everyone else involved in this tragedy.
Franco and I are very good friends, incidentally. Franco has a right to his own opinions, and I respect him for doing what he does. But we don't agree.

Q. Why wasn't Paterno allowed to serve out his final year based on the fact he said he was going to retire?
DR. DAVID JOYNER: We felt it was not in the best interest of the university to do that.

Q. In what regard?
DR. DAVID JOYNER: We just felt it was not in the best interest of the university to do that for all involved.

Q. Was Coach Paterno given any opportunity after he released the statement to come in and resign immediately at that point as opposed to getting fired at that point? Having it done over the phone seems to be frustrating to a lot of people. How did that play out? Was he given an opportunity to come to an administrative building and have a chance to resign?
DR. DAVID JOYNER: I don't know all the details on that transaction. We had an hour and a half, give or take, from the time that was happening. Out of respect for all parties that were being affected at that moment, I know that we didn't want to take a chance on this getting out into the media, that they hear it on TV before somebody can talk to him.
There's a lot of things I'm sure. And I wasn't privy to the exact attempts at communication that occurred. However, I do have the feeling that it was because it just was the only thing that could happen at that time, so it was kind of the best of a bad lot.
If we wait longer, if we try to get there, there's press, there's everybody there. That was up to John Surma and Chairman Garbin at that point in time. They had the decision. They were to take it there.
I do know they were trying to consider what was best to do. I'm sure the press that was there, everything going on, entered into the decision to try to do the right thing again. That ended up obviously in a telephone call. But they thought it was the only way they could handle it at that time.

Q. Dr. Joyner, can you clarify the nature of the alleged threats against Mike McQueary? Were they death threats? Did they come to the university? How many? The circumstances surrounding them.
DR. DAVID JOYNER: I have no knowledge other than what I've read in the media. I have no inside knowledge of the specifics of what happened in that. I've heard or read whatever you've seen. You may be able to educate me more on that than I can educate you on that actually.

Q. I don't think so. That's why I asked the question.
DR. DAVID JOYNER: Honest answer, I will answer the question honestly. I don't know the answer to that, so...

Q. Can you comment on Governor Corbett's role in the university the past few weeks? Has it been helpful that the man who instigated the investigation, knew about it for several years, is now sitting on the university's Board of Trustees?
DR. DAVID JOYNER: I can tell you I have a lot of respect for the governor. He is a member of the Board of Trustees by ex-officio, as all governors are. We have a very diverse Board. I'm not on the Board right now. I can tell you we have a very diverse Board, a lot of backgrounds, a lot of skill sets. The governor brings a skill set that's very valuable, and he's been a very valuable asset on the Board of Directors, not just in this instance.

Q. Did he provide specific advice to the Board on how to handle this issue?
DR. DAVID JOYNER: No. That was a Board decision. He wasn't running the Board meeting.
Thank you very much.

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