A trio of alumni trustees responded today to President Barron’s promise of confidentiality for those interviewed by Louis Freeh, calling their identities necessary for a credible review of his report.

In the release to the media signed by Trustees Al Lord, Anthony Lubrano, and Bill Oldsey, the trustees call Barron’s desire to protect identities “understandable,” but cite positions or titles held by those interviewed as “highly relevant” toward Freeh’s findings.

“For anyone to conduct a credible, in-depth review of Mr. Freeh’s findings, unfettered and uncensored access to all the materials Freeh used is necessary. The very reputation of our university is on the line,” wrote the trustees. “Any action taken to redact or change information is an action that compromises transparency.”

Freeh said in 2012 that his team conducted 430 interviews and parsed millions of documents in the writing of its report. Former legal counsel Cynthia Baldwin, whose Graham Spanier’s lawyers claim acted as a double agent during the scandal, reportedly provided many documents and gave an interview to Freeh’s team. Other notable figures in the scandal like Tim Curley and Gary Schultz declined interviews with Freeh.

The trustees say Freeh included only very few of his interviews in his report.

“What was Freeh’s purpose in not including the information obtained from the vast majority of the interviews? We believe there may be great value in seeing all of the materials, from all of the individuals Freeh interviewed,” wrote the trustees. “Only then will we have a clear picture of what Mr. Freeh decided to include in the report, and what he chose to leave out.”

In November, Barron pledged to conduct a review of the materials included in Freeh’s report. Last week, he assured the employees who were interviewed that they would have confidentiality in his review.

“Clearly, there are times we must give the highest prominence to confidentiality commitments,” Barron wrote. “This is one of those times. The negative consequences for future reporting of wrongdoing are too great.”

The trustees’ release is in full below.

Freeh Review Op Ed Final

Image: psu-rebot.org