Penn State will donate $1.5 million in bowl proceeds to a pair of groups that work with sex-crime victims, a gesture aimed at healing the school’s battered image in the wake of child sex charges against a former assistant football coach, the Associated Press reports. University President Rod Erickson promised the donation the morning after he and other administrators faced pointed questions at a student-organized town hall forum. Erickson told the Associated Press in an interview Thursday that the Big Ten bowl revenue, which usually goes back to the athletic department, will go instead to the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape and the National Sexual Violence Resource Center.
“This presents an excellent opportunity for Penn State to raise the national visibility of this issue,” Erickson said. “Our students and fans are focused on a cause to play for, to cheer for.”