PSUā??s Spanier should resign now

W e've said this before, but it certainly bears repeating: Former Penn State President Graham Spanier should resign from the university.

He is currently on administrative leave as he fights criminal charges related to the Sandusky scandal -- but he should just leave for the good of the school.

He was removed as president by the board after the scandal broke, but he was still a tenured professor.

After being ousted as president, he went on sabbatical -- essentially paid leave.

After he was charged in the case, he was placed on administrative leave -- also paid.

Now come revelations that he will receive nearly $3.3 million in compensation for 2011, according to the Associated Press. That reportedly includes a $1.2 million severance payment.

As the attorney for one of Mr. Sandusky's victims said, that is offensive on its face.

The courts will have to determine if Mr. Spanier is criminally liable in this case.

But regardless of criminality, it seems clear from the Freeh Report that Mr. Spanier did not, as president, live up to the high standards expected of the highly paid leader of such an institution.

The board, according to school officials, removed him without cause, triggering the severance package and other compensation called for in his 2010 contract.

As president, he was paid about $700,000 -- one of the highest-paid public university presidents in the nation.

When he was removed and went back to being a tenured professor, his salary was $600,000, according to a Penn State spokesman.

Good grief, how many PSU professors earn $600,000 a year (and, in this case, $600,000 for nothing on paid leave)?

A Penn State spokesman said that post-presidency salary was stipulated in his 2010 contract.

Obviously, it's naive to expect that Mr. Spanier would walk away from such a lucrative deal, but the sooner Penn State can disassociate itself from him the better.

York Daily Record