Congressman Charlie Dent (PA-15) sent a joint letter today to Dr. Mark Emmert, President of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), asking him to reinstate the forty scholarships that were taken from Penn State as part of the NCAA sanctions, or to return to the University an amount of money equal to the cost of providing forty scholarships to the University.
In the letter Dent questions how keeping forty student athletes, who had no connection to the vile acts done by Jerry Sandusky, from receiving a quality education from Penn State University, can be squared with the NCAA’s purported mission.
Dent’s letter cites Penn State’s superior graduation rates for members of its football program as an indication that the emphasis at Penn State is on providing solid educations to student athletes.
Commenting about the letter, Congressman Dent stated: “I want to make it clear to the NCAA who they are really hurting with this scholarship reduction. It’s not Jerry Sandusky and it’s not the University. They are hurting young people who are completely innocent of anything relating to the Sandusky situation and who through no fault of their own are being denied a chance to get a great education.”
Congressman Glenn “GT” Thompson (PA-5), who represents the State College area, co-signed the letter with Congressman Dent.
