Cheng chosen to help distribute Penn State fine

By Ben Conrady

Chancellor Rita Cheng was appointed Tuesday as one of a 10-person task force to set guidelines for distribution of the $60 million in fines Penn State University will pay over the next five years as a penalty for a sexual abuse scandal involving former coach Jerry Sandusky.

Cheng will serve on a task force that includes NCAA board members, an official from the federal health and human services department, United Way Worldwide CEO Brian Gallagher and Penn State administrators.

The chancellor said she was asked to serve on the task force by NCAA Division I Board of Directors and NCAA Executive Committee Association President Mark Emmert, and she was honored to oblige.

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The group will set a policy and hire a third-party administrator within the next year before it makes its recommendations to the NCAA.

Cheng said 100 percent of fines will be directed toward programs that prevent child sexual abuse or assist victims.

“It’s an opportunity to make something good out of something tragic,” Cheng said.

The fines placed on Penn State are a result of the university’s failure to report allegations of child sexual abuse by Sandusky against at least 10 boys during a 15-year period.

The school’s football team also faces a four-year postseason ban, a loss of 10 scholarships per year for the next four years and a vacation of all victories from 1998 to 2011.

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