Sandusky scandal should shake up football's domination of higher education
Former Penn State assistant football coach (defensive coordinator) Jerry Sandusky has been charged with sexually abusing eight young boys, sometimes in the campus athletic facilities, over a fifteen year period. He faces a forty count indictment.
The allegations against Sandusky have toppled long-time head football coach, Joe Paterno and University President, Graham Spanier.
Penn State Athletic Director, Tim Curly and Vice President for Finance and Business, Gary Schultz face charges of perjury and failure to report under Pennsylvania child protective services law.
The Pennsylvania Attorney General has blasted Penn State for failure to report suspected sexual abuse of young boys. University individuals warned university administrators about suspected abuse more than a decade ago.
How can this be? What's wrong with this picture?
At Penn State, the head football coach had more power than the university's President. College head football coaches bring in the cash and are extremely well compensated.
USA Today's 2010 analysis of college football salaries revealed sixty football coaches who make more than $1 million a year. Alabama pays $5.1 million, Iowa pays $3.8 million; the average pay for a major college football coach is $1.36 million. Some football coaches earn 5 to 10 times what is paid to their school's President.
At Penn State, Paterno's football program generated $50 million in one season according to the U.S. Department of Education. Last year, the football teams in the six major conferences made a combined profit of $1.1 billion.
Penn State's failure to report the child abuse allegations resulted from an imbalance of power.
An inner circle of power that was all about protecting the university's image and its cash-cow football program. As a result, nobody stopped things when they should have. As a result, nobody was looking after the best interests of children.
College Presidents should use the Penn State tragedy to re establish their schools' educational missions and deal directly with the commercialization and excess of college football which make the football coach the most powerful person on campus.
University Presidents and the NCAA should unite and consider establishing a salary cap for their head football coaches. How about $400,000.? A salary in line with the average pay of college Presidents.
Richard O. Schwab was formerly associate head of school, and middle school head, Cincinnati Country Day School. He is currently neighborhood team leader, Glendale Organizing For America Community Team (www.gofact.blogspot.com)
