Don’t Boo, VOTE!

With the alumni voting for Penn State’s Board of Trustees just under three weeks away the campaign is getting more intense. We’ve seen articles, web sites and a flurry of letters to the editor; suggesting there is deep anger at the two incumbents running to be re-elected.

Last weekend’s board of trustees meeting further stirred the raging waters of alumni ire. In a recap on the Penn Stater Magazine site only two people (one bravely taking the name “Anonymous”) defended the trustees while every other comment (over 120 in all) took the board to task.

Anger is understandable and at times serves as a powerful motivator. But there has to be rational thought and follow through. During a 2012 campaign event, a candidate mentioned the opposition and many of the people in the audience booed.

The candidate raised his hand to the crowd and said “Don’t Boo. VOTE.”

Whether or not you agree with the candidate, his comment was right on target. It is not enough to lodge complaints, not enough to protest, or attend board meetings. Those steps must be followed up by voting personally and encouraging others to do the same.

Billboards and commentary keep the issues with us, but ultimately no election was ever won with commentary or rhetoric. Every one of them has been won by turn out.

For decades we voted for trustees when and if we remembered to do it. It didn’t seem that important. The university cruised along making decisions on tuition, enrollment, buildings or any number of seemingly mundane issues. Billions of dollars changed hands with these decisions.

After November 2011 alumni realized trustee elections matter. Trustee elections have a new importance to Penn State alums. Decisions made (or not made) by the administration and the board have had real consequences for a proud beloved university.

This election is about the future of Penn State. The university is increasing the number of students at University Park, the number of international and out-of-state students. The board is discussing governance issues. Maybe that matters to you, maybe it doesn’t. Make no mistake those decisions have consequences for Penn State.

The university is selecting a new president and most likely a new athletic director will follow shortly after that. The level of contempt for the university president and athletic director is unrivaled in recent memory. Appearing at halftime of the Ohio State football game, they drew an unprecedented chorus of loud and sustained booing.

But remember “Don’t Boo. VOTE.”

This column is not to advocate for anyone, it is to urge alumni participation in the election. Last year alumni participated in record numbers, picking three new members of the board.

The probable 2013 election of three new members (delusional incumbent thoughts of re-election not withstanding) will bring the total to 6 new board members. On a board of over thirty members that may seem small.

But the political winds portend a dramatic overhaul of a governing body structure set up decades ago. If not this year, then certainly it will happen in the near future. The board will shrink making that block of six votes look stronger. With three new members next year the nine new people may form the majority of a downsized board.

The incumbent board sees the rising tide. The old-line board has rolled out its guns, with other board members publicly supporting the incumbents in newspaper articles. For them this is about retaining power.

For the other side, this election is a chance to keep up the pressure for reform. They see this as a vote to look at all the facts, to do the right thing, to provide leadership for the university. But it won’t happen without votes.

“Don’t Boo. VOTE.”

This university has never been in need of leadership more than it does now. The Penn State name and brand have been damaged for generations. Don’t believe me? When I say Kent State, almost everyone over 45-years-old thinks about the shootings that occurred on that campus in May of 1970.

Ask a young person and if they know their history they may be aware of it, but chances are the Kent State massacre is not the first thing that comes to their minds. It has been almost forty-three years.

Go ask anyone in America; what do they think of when they hear the name Penn State?

How long will the damage to Penn State linger?

Penn Staters know the reaction many have gotten when they wear their Penn State hats or shirts. Some people are supportive, but many others are hostile or react badly. They don’t know the facts of this case as it relates to this university.

False narratives about the university abound, narratives never once countered by the university administration. For that the fault lies in those who govern this school. That has provoked many alums to anger but provocation must be followed by action.

No matter how you feel, act on those feelings. The future of this university is too important.

“Don’t Boo, VOTE.”