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broke a toe. That just doesn't balance in my mind, but you have to live with it. This is what we know. If you pay attention to media, you ba- sically have controversy, weather and sports, and those are the three things that lead. I really would rather not be part of the controversy, and a good story about great things the university is do- ing is not in that controversy/sports/ weather framework. I have to live with that. At Penn State, you have a football coach who seems very comfortable in the role as an ambassador for the uni- versity. Do you see that as part of the job of a high-pro+le coach, whether it's football, basketball or some other sport? I view their job as making sure that these student-athletes are successful. In my mind, that means the students do well academically and they do well on the 1eld. That's what I see as their job. To have someone who's outgoing and is part of the image of the university and makes you feel welcome and excited about the place, that's a bonus. You said in May that you thought Penn State had made "enormous progress" in implementing the rec- ommendations laid out in the Freeh report and that it deserved to be re- warded. Sen. George Mitchell will be releasing his annual report soon. Do you have a sense of what he's looking to see from Penn State now that those recommendations have been met? I think he's looking for consistency and persistence and commitment. The leadership changed in several di2erent facets, and I think he wants to make sure that that commitment is there. He's looking at areas of progress. Even though you might check a box, checking a box shouldn't be the way we live. It's really about making good progress. You've set up a rule. Are you paying at- tention to it? I believe that he's pleased with what he sees, but I can't speak for him. That's up to him. The NCAA le, open the door for further reductions in the penalties. Do you think that's a possibility for Penn State? I will say the same thing, and I'm try- ing to be careful. We're not the ones who make this recommendation, and we're not the ones who vote on it and decide. That depends on Sen. Mitchell, it de- pends on the Big Ten and on the NCAA board. I can only say that my personal philosophy is to reward those who do well. Based on what you've seen since be- coming president, how would you characterize Penn State's compliance with the provisions of the consent de- cree? It's beyond a model university. A lot of places will emulate the things that we've done. The notion of having an ethics component in athletics, that's very un- usual. The degree to which we've looked at policies, overhauled them, updated them, looked closely at how things function – we've simply become a mod- el university. The Alumni Association polled its members recently, and more than 80 percent of the respondents felt that Penn State should formally recognize Joe Paterno in some way. What are your thoughts on that? You've talked about the need for time and for heal- ing… Yeah, I don't change that. A couple of months have not made a di2erence. It took three years to get Bobby Bowden back on the 1eld [at Florida State], and people had very strong feelings. Obvi- ously, we have a lot swirling around out there, and a lot of people who are very sensitive about the issue still. So you'll have to continue to give me a little time. Do you feel as though the legal process has to play out before any- thing can happen? Is that a precursor to anything Penn State might do? You know, I hesitate to put any sort of timeline on it, because it's not just a le- gal issue. Do you feel that as president you have to be mindful that you're speak- ing not just to a Penn State audience but to people who didn't attend this university and may not feel the way that a lot of Penn Staters do? Absolutely. This is not just a national university; it's a world university. We are also a university that is driven really by educating people from all over. We are a national brand, and not just a national brand. We have the capability of being a national driver in athletics and gover- nance and a lot of other things. All you have to do is look at a few press stories and you realize how national an institu- tion we are. You can't a2ord to look at any single segment and claim that OK, that's enough. You mentioned Bobby Bowden ear- lier. You were a central part of his rec- onciliation with Florida State. What made that so important to you? He was an icon for the institution. A huge number of alumni saw him as part of what put Florida State on the map. A lot of people were pained by the process by which he was dismissed. And so I think if you're somebody like me, you look at that and say, how can I make that better? And I think that it's going to turn out for the best down there. There were a lot of factors, and I don't want anyone to have the impres- sion that it was just me. It really took a lot of effort. I tell people that my wife invited Ann Bowden to lunch twice. She was incredibly uncomfortable with what had happened and may have been a significant factor in any kind of rec- onciliation. A lot of conversations took place. Did you learn anything during that process that is applicable to the situa- tion at Penn State? Yeah, there are a lot of parallels. And there's no snapping your 1ngers and we're all happy. It doesn't work that way. Has anything about Penn State sur- prised you now that you've been back

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