The Penn State Board of Trustees will let stand the statue if the late Joe Paterno, according to sources with firsthand knowledge of the private discussions this week.
The trustees' reluctance to remove the statue is motivated by the desire to avoid upsetting alumni and students loyal to the deceased coach despite damning findings of his role in the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse cover-up detailed in the Freeh report, the sources said.
Former FBI director Freeh said Paterno "repeatedly concealed critical facts relating to Sandusky's child abuse from the authorities."
Weighing on the decision whether to remove the statue, some trustees said they wanted to resist being pressured by the media into a sudden decision about such an emotionally charged issue, according to ESPN reports.
"You can't let people stampede you into making a rash decision," a trustee said. "The statue represents the good that Joe did. It doesn't represent the bad that he did."
Though some trustees expressed their beliefs that the statue will eventually come down, most reached the consensus it should remain standing in the coming weeks and months. Some even went further, insisting Paterno's statue outside Beaver Stadium should never be removed.
"It has to stay up," said another trustee. "We have to let a number of months pass, and we'll address it again. But there is no way, no way. It's just not coming down."
Publicly, the trustees and Penn State president Rodney Erickson have repeatedly insisted they would take a careful, wait-and-see approach.
Karen Peetz, the board's chairwoman, told reporters Thursday the statue is "a very sensitive topic. This is something that will need to be discussed with the entire university community. This is not just a board decision."
Some alumni groups have continued to call for the resignations of trustees, and one trustee said the board is learning from its past mistakes.
"We don't want to jump the gun again," the trustee said. "When we did that in November, look where we ended up. If it does have to come down, it will be after much deliberation and discussion. If I had my way, the statue will always be there. People can take from it what they want."
Paterno died in January at age 85, two months after Sandusky, 68, was indicted on more than 40 counts of sex crimes against young boys over a 15-year period.
Last Thursday, hours after the Freeh report was made public, Nike announced it was removing Joe Paterno's name from its child development center. On Saturday, the halo atop Paterno's head on the Heister Street mural was painted over by the artist. Even Penn State intends to alter campus buildings in an attempt to erase the legacy of Sandusky's crimes against children.
