It's no secret that while he was the head coach at Penn State, Joe Paterno may have been the most powerful man on campus in State College, and according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Paterno wielded that power whenever possible when it came to the discipline of his players. The Wall Street Journal acquired emails from and talked to former Penn State University standards and conduct officer Vicky Triponey who says that Paterno fought her every step of the way, and wanted to hold football players to a different standard than other students.
The confrontations came to a head in 2007, according to one former school official, when six football players were charged by police for forcing their way into a campus apartment that April and beating up several students, one of them severely. That September, following a tense meeting with Mr. Paterno over the case, she resigned her post, saying at the time she left because of "philosophical differences."
In a statement Monday, Dr. Triponey said: "There were numerous meetings and discussions about specific and pending student discipline cases that involved football players," which she said included "demands" to adjust the judicial process for football players. The end result, she said, was that football players were treated "more favorably than other students accused of violating the community standards as defined by the student code of conduct."
http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/24156338/33457474