Martin Hyde, Penn State is privately-run, but publicly funded. The link above kind of explains things. It denies it’s subject to a number of laws that govern public institutions, like the open-meeting law and salary disclosure, but the state thinks it does.
Robin
I should correct myself, it became a land grant institution during the civil war, heh.
Speaking as a PSU student (who just on Monday attended the GLBTQA meeting), the gay community has known about Portland for a long time. And this SUCKS.
That’s a ridiculous situation I never believed could exist. No one is really to blame other than the State of Pennsylvania. Is Penn State unique in this situatoin? Or does the other major public school in Pennsylvania, the University of Pittsburgh, also enjoy the same priviledges PSU enjoys?
If I was running the State of Pennsylvania I’d inform PSU that they can begin funding themselves to the same degree that UPENN does if they feel they are above public oversight.
Sorry, forgot to mention this: an added complication that, as an employee of PSU, she is bound by the school’s nondiscrimination policy, which includes discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Nevertheless, I don’t think the school will actually fire her.
It looks like they have the goods. I’m hoping for a bloody trial and no wimpy secret settlement.
Something which is very telling, IMHO, is that not a single Penn State player - past or present - has gone on record either refuting Harris’ version of the story or supporting Portland. Their silence speaks volumes.
Portland was hired by JoePA during his relatively brief tenure as athletic director. She shares his conservative religious beliefs and she enjoys his support. In a word, Rene is Joe’s bitch. No matter who is the president or AD, Joe owns the college and his word is law. As such Portland must feel that she’s got nothing to worry about no matter how many anti-discrimination policies are passed by the faculty.
It would be nice if the state government in PA grew a pair and yanked PSU’s funding till they straightened up and began acting like a government institution.
Tell that to anybody who’s coached Allen Iverson. 
It’s really hard to prove or disprove statements like the ones Portland has made about Harris. That said, I do think she’s full of it, and if she’s really discriminating against players that way, I hope she gets what’s coming to her.
Wow. Maybe we really do live in two Americas.
Lesbians not allowed to play NCAA basketball
WNBA
I need an aspirin.
I’m not sure what would happen if push came to shove. But if I was the President of one of the other publicly funded institutions in Pennsylvania I’d be pitching a fit about the double standard that PSU enjoys.
Penn State’s annual budget is around $3bn, and the state of Pennsylvania ponies up about $300m of that. So about 10% of PSU’s budget comes from the people of Pennsylvania. Now, while PSU could probably survive with that 10% being taken away, it couldn’t do so without cutting programs, athletics teams, or raising tuition and student fees. I think the state has the power here to bend PSU to its will, and if they don’t, well then I certainly think it’d be better if that $300m was sent to other schools in Pennsylvania that are publicly funded.
Now, if Penn State was an “unambiguously” private school like UPENN then, well I’d say “private school, they can make up whatever ridiculous rules they want for their athletics team.” But as long as PSU is receiving $300m a year from the state then they shouldn’t be able to patently ignore the regulations that public schools have to follow.
Private schools can do what they want policy-wise, but this isn’t a school policy, it’s just this coach. As LaurAnge said, the school has already resolved the issue. If the coach is violating it, they may choose not to fire her, but they can certainly discipline her.
[I thought about taking ‘discipline’ out of that sentence for joke reasons, but I’lll leave it alone.]
Most private schools don’t receive such a large endowment from State governments. Now, virtually all private schools do receive some form of government subsidization, but PSU is pretty unique in its situation from what I’ve seen.
Ah, can, but WILL they? She’s an extremely popular coach, and gets wins for PSU. And sometimes that seems like all people care about around here.
There should be more news tomorrow.
Heh. I used to attend those when the organization was just the GLSA…
And Portland’s a witch. Always has been.
Heh, sometimes I add more letters to the acronym to see if anyone notices. Which is even funnier, 'cause I’m not sure I actually fit under ANY of them anyway!
Depends on how the case goes, but nobody wants this kind of publicity. Although I’m sure Penn State will be want to be careful that they don’t leave themselves open to suits from Portland, so they may not act quickly.
I think a GSBLTBBQ&A sounds fun.
How odd. Scuttlebutt has it that if lesbians were kicked out of women’s rugby, the Women’s Rugby World Cup would become the Women’s Rugby Sevens World Cup overnight… and at that they’d be scratching around to make up the teams. :dubious:
Then there’s the quote popularly () attributed to Martina Navratilove about why she wasn’t going to compete in the Wimbledon women’s singles any more: "I’ve licked all those cnts already".
Everyone knows I’m most unlikely to be seen carrying a banner for gay rights, but this is some kinda silly here.
Well- the University is going to be sued. I wonder if PSU is following How to Generate the Most Negative Publicity Possible For Dummies or if they are winging it.
From the Pittsburgh paper:
http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/sports/college/s_385991.html
"Ignoring a Wednesday deadline set by the attorney for former Penn State basketball player Jennifer Harris, university officials did not rescind negative remarks directed at Harris by women’s basketball coach Rene Portland.
“We have heard nothing from Penn State, so we plan to move forward with the lawsuit,” said Harris’ attorney Karen Doering."
And the local paper:
http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2005/10/10-20-05tdc/10-20-05dsports-10.asp
"Penn State did not retract the statement, but Penn State spokesman Bill Mahon said the NCLR has not yet given the university enough information to begin an investigation into the matter.
“Until we get some information from them, I’m not sure how a reasonable person could suggest that we have enough information to investigate,” Mahon said. “All we have are press releases and headlines.”
Penn State won’t have lesbians. Good. More lesbians for me! …umm