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Before there was Penn State, there was Bellefonte.  It is home to five of the state’s governors and the final resting place for the founders of the University.  Evan Pugh, a world renowned chemist who became the first president of what was then known as the Farmers’ High School, presided over its transformation into Pennsylvania’s only land grant institution after the passage of the Morrill Act in 1862.  Benefactor James Irvin, a partner in the Centre Furnace, ensured that Penn State would remain rooted in the region through an outright gift of 200 acres of land and sale of another 200 below market value.  Hugh Nelson McAllister, a local lawyer and father-in-law of Civil War hero and later Pennsylvania Governor James A. Beaver, for whom the football stadium is named, was the architect of Penn State’s iconic building, Old Main.

Together in the Union Cemetery, they share the hereafter as they shared their lives, blocks away from the Centre County Courthouse, the site of what was to be a preliminary hearing Tuesday where Penn State graduate and former defensive coordinator for the Nittany Lions football team Jerry Sandusky, standing accused on 50 counts of alleged child sex abuse, would face his accusers for the first time.

Whatever did the founders make of the developments of the day?  After a dramatic lead up to the preliminary hearing, an abrupt announcement in the moments after the court was called to order that Sandusky wished to waive his right to a preliminary hearing, opting instead to proceed directly to trial, sparked speculation of a possible plea agreement.  Speaking to the press afterwards, Sandusky’s attorney Joe Amendola denied that a plea deal was under discussion.  With a pledge to “stay the course, fight for four quarters,” Sandusky said leaving the courthouse that he awaited an opportunity to present his side.  His attorney reiterated that position later, describing the challenges ahead as akin to climbing Mt. Everest and an attitude that Sandusky would “fight to the death” to maintain his innocence. 

With this turn of events, attention is shifting to the preliminary hearing taking place at the end of the week in the Dauphin County Courthouse in Harrisburg for two Penn State officials charged with perjury and failure to report, retired vice president for finance Gary Schultz and director of athletics Tim Curley, currently on leave from the University, will occur. 

According to legal analysts, a key aspect of the case against Sandusky hinges on the credibility of reports made by Penn State offensive coordinator and recruiting coach, Mike McQueary, because it is this testimony that will help to establish what Penn State officials knew and whether they did in fact fail to act.  In the first Grand Jury Report issued in early November, McQueary testified that he saw Sandusky sexually assaulting a 10-year old boy in a locker room shower in the Penn State football facility.  In the weeks after the publication of the Grand Jury Report, questions have been raised about the accuracy of these claims. According to the Patriot News, Dr. Robert Dranov testified before the Grand Jury earlier in the year that he was in the room at the time McQueary told his father about the incident.  Dranov’s recollection of the story McQueary told his father differs with the details of what McQueary is reported to have told the Grand Jury. 

As the events of the day settle,what paths will lead to the truth in a tight community where networks intersect, mutually support, and occasionally collide?  It is telling that the scene unfolded today in Bellefonte, where the complexity of community comes through.  It is a reminder of how complicated these relationships are.  Penn State’s founders were neighbors, co-workers, relatives, and friends joined in common cause much as the actors in the scenes playing out in modern day Centre County are. 

For better or worse, the circumstances inspire the raising of questions as the pieces of the puzzle continue to fall into place but also elude.  For example, in recent days it was revealed that Jerry Sandusky was barred from volunteering as a football coach at Juniata College following an employee background check.  While background checks may be routine at Juniata, it is the case that their policy was updated or changed in September of 2010, six months after Sandusky was turned away for failing to disclose that he was being investigated by a high school where he previously volunteered. Is it relevant that the Juniata athletic director at the time is a Penn State graduate? Or that the current athletic director and men’s head basketball coach, Greg Curley, who grew up in State College, holds a master’s degree in sport administration from Penn State and is also Tim Curley’s nephew?  Does this shed any new light on what may or may not have been known by Penn State parties about the allegations against Sandusky?  Will we ever really know? 

The spirits have been stirred in Bellefonte.  It may be some time before they are permitted to rest.  

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Dr. Ellen Staurowsky is Professor, Sport Management at Drexel University.  Dr. Staurowsky is internationally recognized as an expert on social justice issues in sport which include gender equity and Title IX, pay equity and equal employment opportunity, the exploitation of athletes, the faculty role in reforming college sport, representation of women in sport media, and the misappropriation of American Indian imagery in sport.  She is co-author of the book, College Athletes for Hire:  The Evolution and Legacy of the NCAA Amateur Myth and is currently working on her second book entitled Women in Sport: From Liberation to Celebration. In addition to publications in scholarly journals such as the Harvard Journal of Law and Gender, Journal of Sport and Social Issues, Sociology of Sport Journal, Quest, Journal of Sport Management, the International Journal of Sport Sociology, the Marquette Sports Law Review, the Journal of Legal Aspects of Sport, and the International Journal of Sport History, her critiques and analyses on a variety of issues have appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal, The NCAA News, The New York Times, Athletic Management Magazine, and News From Indian Country.  Dr. Staurowsky has received numerous honors over the years.  Temple University recognized Dr. Staurowsky with a Young Alumna Achievement Award in 1998 and in 2005 she was presented with an Excellence in Professional Performance Award.  She has been named to Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers on numerous occasions and she is a recipient of a Faculty Appreciation Award from students at Ithaca College.  In 2002, she received the Ithaca College Faculty Award for Excellence in Scholarship.  In 2005, Dr. Staurowsky received the Ithaca College Office of Multicultural Affairs Appreciation Award and the IC Feminists Woman of Achievement Award in 2006.  In December of 2008, she was named the first recipient of the National Residence Hall Honorary (NHRR – Ithaca) Faculty Member of the Month.  Recognized with the Darlene Kluka Women’s Sports Foundation’s Research Award in 2008, Dr. Staurowsky was also honored that same year with a Presidential Award from the National Association for Girls and Women in Sport.   In 2009, Dr. Staurowsky received the Ithaca College Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching.  Dr. Staurowsky is frequently sought after for interviews to discuss contemporary sport issues.  She has served as president of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport and the AAHPERD Research Consortium.  She is an executive board member of the College Sport Research Institute at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and the NCAA Scholarly Colloquium, where she also serves as secretary-treasurer.  She has made several appearances on ESPN Outside the Lines, ESPN Classic, ESPN Cold Pizza, and Public Broadcasting’s Religion and Ethics Newsweekly.  Dr. Staurowsky served as a director of athletics at the college level for nine years before moving to Ithaca College, and then on to Drexel. Previous to that was a college coach in the sports of field hockey, men’s soccer, and women’s lacrosse. Dr. Staurowsky can be reached at  ejs95@drexel.edu