PSU Activist Alumni Lubrano, Harris Plan Gathering for Friday Afternoon

Activist Penn State alumni Anthony Lubrano and Franco Harris will hold an open gathering and question-and-answer session Friday afternoon in State College, Lubrano said Wednesday.

The event will follow the university Board of Trustees meeting that’s slated for 10:15 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Nittany Lion Inn, said Lubrano, a 1982 graduate. He has emerged among the most vocal critics of the board and its responses to the child-sexual-abuse and cover-up allegations.

Lubrano, a prominent Philadelphia-area businessman and Penn State donor, has joined Harris, a former university football player and Pittsburgh Steeler, in speaking out for fired football coach Joe Paterno.

Lubrano said details of his joint event with Harris, a 1972 graduate, will be forthcoming. They held a similar gathering last week outside Philadelphia, after a town-hall alumni forum headlined by university President Rodney Erickson.

‘Among other matters, I think we’re going to discuss some of the investigative work that we’ve done, information we have that’s not necessarily been shared,’ Lubrano said.

A presumed candidate the the university board, Lubrano has called on sitting board members to explain more clearly why Paterno was dismissed and to apologize for their treatment of him.

Such an apology is ‘required in order for this community to heal,’ Lubrano said Wednesday.

So far, he said, he has talked with more than a dozen trustees. He intends to talk with all of them, Lubrano said.

As for the Friday event, Lubrano said, he expects it will include a large student gathering. Students should have an opportunity to talk there, too, he said.

Related coverage

• StateCollege.com’s earlier and ongoing coverage of the Penn State-charges situation