UNIVERSITY PARK- After being blasted in The Freeh Report investigating the Sandusky sex scandal at Penn State, former chairman of the PSU Board of Trustees Steve Garban resigned Thursday.
The current chairperson of the board Karen Peetz made the announcement Thursday night that Garban was stepping down from his position on the board. Peetz took Garban’s place as chair of the board back in January.
Garban has received a lot of attention ever since former head of the FBI Louis Freeh issued the results of his investigation into Penn State last week.
Freeh pointed out that Garban knew about the Sandusky investigation back in April, 2011 and didn’t pass that information on to the rest of the board. Freeh said Garban also knew a week before Sandusky and two Penn State administrators were charged last November that those charges were coming.
In fact, Garban told Freeh investigators that he was shocked seeing Sandusky in the Nittany Lion Club box at the Penn State/Iowa football game on October 29 knowing that Sandusky was about to be charged with child sex abuse.
Garban sat at the table next to board member John Surma the night Surma announced that Joe Paterno was fired.
Garban was on the board since he was elected by alumni back in 1998. He graduated from Penn State in 1959. He was once a captain of the football team. He had a 33 year career at PSU that included being university controller and Senior Vice President/Treasurer. He also oversaw the Penn State athletic program. He served as chair of the Board of Trustees in 2010 and 2011.
Peetz issued this statement about Garban’s resignation:
“Earlier today I accepted Steve Garban’s resignation from the Board of Trustees. I want to sincerely thank him for his many years of service to Penn State University and for the leadership he exhibited today.
“Steve dedicated his adult life to Penn State, devoting more than 33 years of service to help make this a better institution. Few love this University more than Steve, and his passion and commitment to the University have never been more apparent than they are today. This selfless leadership exemplifies the culture shift we are working hard to create.
“I will miss Steve and his many contributions to the Board, but I understand and respect his reasons for leaving.”
