PSU Trustees schedule call to discuss consent decree

The Penn State Board of Trustees has called a special session Sunday evening to consider ratification of the binding consent decree imposed by the NCAA.

The board is expected to formally ratify the consent decree of NCAA sanctions agreed to last month by university president Rodney Erickson and the NCAA, ESPN.com reported.

The decree, accepted by the university and school officials including president Rodney Erickson and athletic director David Joyner, is a binding agreement between Penn State and the NCAA in which the university accepts blame for lack of institutional control and acknowledges the cover-up by late coach Joe Paterno and former school officials in the Jerry Sandusky case.

The special session, to be held Sunday at 5 p.m. ET, will be a conference call. The public can listen to the audio of the conference, presumably live, at WPSU.org/live.

Two board members filed an appeal of the NCAA sanctions, which bans Penn State's football program from the postseason for four years, lowers scholarship limits and calls for direct compliance with the NCAA with an imbedded intermediary who will track the university's progress in all NCAA-related matters.

Coach Bill O'Brien said Thursday he discourages any broad rejection of acceptance of the NCAA sanctions.

"We need to move forward," he said.