Penn State rally urges trustees to resign

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STATE COLLEGE, Pa., Sept. 16 (UPI) -- Penn State officials declined comment on a pre-game rally Saturday that called for the resignation of the university's trustees.

Attendees demanded the board step down over the treatment of football coach Joe Paterno and the hefty penalties laid on the football program in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky sex-abuse scandal.

"It only took one night, just one night for the (board of trustees) to lay a path of destruction never before seen on any college campus," said Franco Harris, a former NFL star who played football for the Nittany Lions. "One night, Nov. 9, we will always remember that."

The Center Daily Times in State College, Penn., said Harris referred to the night of Nov. 9 when Paterno was fired as coach. He died a short time later of cancer and the NCAA followed by scratching 111 wins from Paterno's career record of 409 victories.

Some of the roughly 1,000 protesters said the board's actions were about more than the legendary coach's reputation. "It is about a great university they basically threw to the wolves," Penn State fan Joe Grassi told the Times.