Professor Jo Potuto, the NCAA faculty representative for UNL, attended the annual meeting of Division 1-A faculty athletics representatives and athletic directors in September. At the meeting, NCAA's president Mark Emmert addressed attendees and provided more context for the penalties imposed on Penn State by the association. As part of the discussion, Potuto engaged Emmert in the cross-examination that has become legendary among our students. The Chronicle of Higher Education reported the following:
"“Are you prepared to say this is different, it’s a one-and-done?” Josephine R. Potuto, the faculty athletics representative at the University of Nebraska, asked Emmert pointedly.
“If you’re asking me, ‘Will there be a case like Penn State in 10 to 15 years?,’ my answer is, ‘I have no idea. I certainly hope not. We all would hope and pray not,’” Emmert responded. “But in my 30 years of working in higher education, I’ve seen one case that would justify these extraordinary actions, and that was it.”
Potuto, a former chair of the NCAA’s Division I Committee on Infractions, then asked Emmert if the NCAA was considering writing a policy or bylaw, as some news reports have suggested, that would cover its ability to intervene as it did with Penn State.
“No, not precisely,” he said. “The authority I used in the Penn State case is something I never plan to use again.”
For the full article, see http://chronicle.com/blogs/players/ncaa-president-tries-to-assuage-worries-over-penn-state-precedent/31380.