Jay Paterno wins alumni-elected seat to Penn State Board of Trustees

Sam Cooper
·College football writer
(AP)
(AP)

On Friday, Jay Paterno was elected to the Penn State Board of Trustees — the same group that voted to fire his father, longtime Penn State coach Joe Paterno, in November 2011 amid the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal.

Paterno was one of four candidates vying for three alumni-elected seats on the 32-person board. Of the four, Paterno received the highest number of votes, 16,322.

Paterno was an assistant coach on his father’s staff but was not retained when Bill O’Brien was brought in as head coach in 2012. He also was a backup quarterback for the Nittany Lions from 1986-90 before beginning his coaching career. He was an assistant at Virginia, Connecticut and James Madison before landing a spot on his father’s staff in 1995 first as a tight ends coach and later as quarterbacks coach.

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In addition to Paterno, incumbents Alice Pope, a St. John’s University professor, and Robert Jubelirer, a former Pennsylvania Senate majority leader, were re-elected to the board, besting California businessman Robert Browsher, who once compared the NCAA’s sanctions against PSU to apartheid (seriously).

Previously, trustee Al Lord was on the ballot for re-election but withdrew his name after controversial comments about the victims of Sandusky, who was convicted on 45 counts of child sexual abuse. Lord said he was “running out of sympathy” for the “so-called” victims of Sandusky. He later apologized.

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Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!