STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - A Penn State trustee said he plans to file an appeal with the NCAA over the strict sanctions imposed on the university for the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.
Trustee Ryan McCombie in a letter to fellow trustees sent Monday wrote he's taking action in the interest of due process and sought an NCAA hearing. He invited other trustees to join in the appeal.
A copy of the letter was obtained by The Associated Press. McCombie verified the letter but declined comment otherwise.
``I know my actions will be poorly received by some on this board and in the community at large. To that end it would be easier to remain silent and allow these unfair actions to remain unchallenged. I cannot do this,'' McCombie wrote. ``As long as I am a member of this board, I will fight to learn the full truth of the Sandusky scandal and then, and only then, endorse the assignment of blame and the imposition of sanctions.''
The landmark penalties handed down last month included a four-bowl ban, scholarship cuts and 111 vacated wins from 1998-2011, meaning Joe Paterno no longer has the most coaching victories in major college football.
Former FBI director Louis Freeh, who led the school's internal investigation in the scandal, said July 12 that Paterno and three school officials concealed allegations against Sandusky - conclusions denied by the Paterno family and the officials. School trustees then said they accepted responsibility for failures of accountability in the scandal.
Paterno died in January at age 85.
Acting with rare speed, college sports' governing body announced sanctions July 23 after Penn State handed over results of Freeh's investigation. The school accepted the sanctions and signed off on a consent decree, with President Rodney Erickson saying later he didn't see a better option since the threat of the ``death penalty,'' or the total shutdown of the football program, loomed over the school.
The NCAA last week said the penalties weren't subject to appeal after Joe Paterno's family said they planned to file one.
Trustees ousted Paterno in November, days after Sandusky was arrested, but McCombie wasn't on the board then. McCombie, one of three new trustees elected this spring by alumni, was supported in his campaign by an alumni watchdog group that had been critical of the board's actions.
McCombie wrote in the letter Monday that he respected and appreciated Freeh's work, but that the report did not equate to legal hearing or review.
``Yet despite these very serious limitations and others, our Board allowed the Freeh report to be presented as a full and fair review, which it most certainly is not; and we stood by passively while the University accepted an unprecedented penalty from the NCAA, based entirely on the findings of the Freeh report,'' he wrote.
``These are grave mistakes that inflict undue harm on the entire Penn State community, in addition to compromising the rights of numerous individuals.''
The letter was released the same day that the football team under new coach Bill O'Brien began preseason practice.
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