Penn State has placed Russell Athletic on probation as a response to the ongoing workers’ rights controversy surrounding the company’s Jerzees de Honduras factory, according to an article published in this morning’s Collegian.

The Collegian article had the following quote from Graham Spanier:

We made a decision several weeks ago to put Russell on probation. We informed them more recently of our deadline for addressing issues that have been identified and for answering questions we posed to them. Their response will determine whether we renew our relationship with them.

Kind of odd that they didn’t think to let anyone at Penn State know this “a few weeks ago” when they made the decision. Wonder what could have prompted them?

Maybe it was peer pressure. Penn State’s action pales in comparision to the actions taken by other universities. The University of Miami, the University of Wisconsin, Georgetown, and Rutgers have all suspended or canceled their contracts with Russell.