Blue White Illustrated

ber 1980 as the time of Penn State's initial membership inquiry. That's when Joe Paterno, who was serving both as football coach and athletic director, had a couple of conversations with retiring Big Ten commissioner Wayne Duke. However, John Coyle, the university's longtime faculty athletic representative, told me recently about a trip he and Penn State president John Oswald made to Ann Arbor in the late 1970s to discuss possible membership with Michigan president Robben Fleming and athletic director Don Canham. He said the Penn State administration had concluded it could not sustain the university's comprehensive athletic program, and its strong emphasis on women's sports, without becoming part of a conference. "The Big Ten seemed like the best fit for us in the quality of our athletics and academics," Coyle recalled, "and Michigan's president and athletic director were receptive." But there was no immediate followup. Coyle said it wasn't until the development of a strategic plan in the mid-1980s – a plan that cast doubt on the financial future of the entire athletic program – that talk of conference membership turned serious. Sometime after the 1988 football season – Penn State's first losing season in 50 years – Penn State president Bryce Jordan made contact with Ikenberry, the head of the Council of Ten, the Big Ten presidents who ran the conference. Secret talks began and included commissioner Jim Delany, Penn State athletic director Jim Tarman and vice president of finances Steve Garban. On Sunday, Dec. 10, the Council of Ten began a two-day meeting in Chicago. According to later news reports, the council voted Sunday to invite Penn State into the Big Ten, and on Monday afternoon Ikenberry telephoned Jordan with the news, but the decision was not to be made public until more particulars were finalized. However, word leaked out sometime Thursday, and on Friday, Dec. 15, Ikenberry made the official announcement in Chicago, saying, "We have reached an agreement in principle that Penn State will join the Big Ten." The announcement caused an instant firestorm, primarily because the Big Ten athletic directors and head coaches had been completely unaware of what was happening behind their backs. They stirred up so much trouble with their public comments that Ikenberry and the Council of Ten had to quickly backtrack, reiterating that the agreement was "in principle" and noting that more details had to be worked out before the decision was finalized. Apparently, some of Ikenberry's colleagues were also having cold feet. And when the Council of Ten's formal vote was taken more than six months later in early June, Penn State barely received the two-thirds majority of seven votes required to be admitted as a Big Ten member. Because of my previous conference connections, the three presidents who reportedly voted against Penn State – Indiana's Tom Ehrlich, Michigan's James Duderstadt and Michigan State's John DiBiaggio – were a special disappointment to me back then. I'm happy Northwestern's Arnie Weber didn't cast the decisive negative vote. Some athletic directors and coaches also continued to fight against Penn State's admission, though it was useless. I was most surprised by the comments of Minnesota's athletic director at the time, Rick Bay, a casual friend of mine from his years as head wrestling coach at Michigan. Rick said, "Penn State wouldn't be a member of the league" if the athletic directors had voted. In retrospect, the controversy over Penn State in 1989 now seems so petty and small-minded. Penn State did not cause the Southwestern and Big Eight conferences to blow up. It didn't prompt West Virginia to leave the Big East for the Big 12 and Colorado to leave the Big 12 for the Pac10. Or for Pitt and Syracuse to bolt to the Atlantic Coast Conference. The collegiate athletic landscape simply continues to change, and it's not goI ing to stop. The Remarkable Journey of the 2012 Nittany Lions A diary by Lou Prato, author of the Penn State Football Encyclopedia and four other Nittany Lion books Personalized autographed copy available soon through Lou Prato and Associates louprato@comcast.net Price: $19.95 plus tax and shipping

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