How would you like it if members of Congress, your state legislature or local town council weren’t allowed to explain why they voted the way they did, discuss their deliberative process with constituents or personally follow up on important issues or problems?
Believe it or not (and after the last few months, you will probably believe it), the current Standing Orders of the Penn State Board of Trustees prohibit members, despite being charged with “complete responsibility for the government and welfare of the University and all the interests pertaining thereto including students, faculty, staff and alumni,” from doing any of these things in communication with the Penn State community. While the honor and dignity of the institution undoubtedly requires that, at times, the people entrusted with its stewardship be afforded an opportunity to speak candidly amongst themselves, the leadership at Penn State has, for a very long time now, erred much too far in the direction of opaque secrecy, as the events surrounding the Sandusky scandal clearly demonstrate.
As a Trustee, Ben Novak promises to lead the crusade for reforming Penn State’s culture of secrecy, beginning with the many obstacles to the free flow of information contained in the PSU Trustees’ Standing Order IX.
Check back throughout the campaign, as Ben lays out more of his plan for making the Board of Trustees more accountable to all of Penn State.
