Thank You, Anthony Lubrano

Penn State Alumni Trustee Antony Lubrano attended his final Board of Trustees meeting last Friday, May 8, 2026. It marked the end of an era.

Anthony served two terms as a trustee from 2012–2018, followed by a third and fourth term from 2020–2026. Under the bylaws term limits rules, he is no longer eligible to serve as a trustee. After 12 years of service, he has certainly earned a break. Having served on the Board myself for three years, I appreciate just how demanding that commitment can be.

Anthony has been a steadfast and generous supporter of Penn State. In 2011, when the Board treated Joe Paterno disgracefully, Anthony joined Franco Harris in rallying alumni and fans in protest. Watching Penn State bring in Lanny Davis and Louis Freeh to construct a false narrative about the events surrounding the Sandusky scandal was enough to move him from concerned alumnus to active reformer. He ran for the Board in 2012, earned alumni support, and won election.

From the beginning, Anthony saw clearly how dysfunctional the Penn State Board of Trustees could be. Compared with many trustees, his comments were consistently well researched, substantive, and sharply focused. He refused to let Board leadership gloss over mistakes, evasions, and outright falsehoods. An accountant by education and training, he was frequently heard to say “I’m following the money.” He knew how to follow the money, and did.

Yes, he was outspoken, but also backed his convictions with action. He retained strong legal counsel and pursued litigation to hold the Board accountable to the law. Perhaps the clearest sign of his effectiveness is this: after completing the requirements to be named an emeriti trustee in 2018, Anthony Lubrano is, to the best of my memory, the only Penn State trustee eligible for emeritus status who was ever denied it.

This weak and vindictive rebuke from the ‘leadership’ speaks clearly of their cowardice and spite. When emeritus recognition routinely is extended to trustees such as Ira Lubert, Mark Dambly, and Rick Dandrea, yet withheld from Anthony Lubrano, it tells its own story.

Anthony understood something important: in many cases these are not simply well-meaning people with differing viewpoints. Many fundamentally misunderstand their fiduciary obligations to the university and its stakeholders. They misapply and misuse their self-created authority. He recognized when they could not be reasoned with in the normal sense.

His statement last Friday, opposing the reappointment of Matt Schuyler for another one-year Board term, reflected that view:

“Mr. Chairman, my fellow Trustees: Integrity is the quality of being honest, having strong moral principles, and maintaining consistency in actions, values, and methods.

During my time on this Board, openness and transparency continues to be evasive, in my opinion.

I have observed a sitting member attack other members verbally, physically and in writing without consequence.

I have observed the unilateral approval of an estimated $250 million in future expenditures on football WITHOUT any input from the full Board.

I have observed the misrepresentation to this body of the fact pattern surrounding the Paterno field-naming resolution put forward in February, 2024.

Finally, I have observed, in direct circumvention of the Bylaws, the undertaking of a covert investigation into the alleged conduct of a member, at a cost to the University of more than $1 million in legal fees.

Based on my observations, I cannot support this nomination. Thank you.”

Penn State Trustee Anthony Lubrano

I first met Anthony in 2012 when he was running for the Board. When I later became a trustee myself, he was instrumental in helping me understand the internal dynamics and realities of Board governance. He was a genuine peer, someone willing to tell hard truths, engage in honest debate – even when we disagreed, offer candid guidance, and keep the university’s best interests front and center.

His voice will be missed, and that may be precisely the point. The increasingly draconian measures imposed by Board leadership in recent years have made it far less likely that another trustee like Anthony Lubrano will emerge through the alumni election process. Board leadership has made it clear this is intentional.

Make no mistake: Anthony could have chosen an easier path. He could have ignored the waste, mismanagement, and what many believe to be unwise decisions and policies that have damaged our university. He could have spent the past fifteen years enjoying comfortable professional success, supporting Penn State athletics, and living a far less contentious life.

We are fortunate he chose to volunteer to serve as an alumni-elected representative. He felt Penn State – and truth and honesty – were worth fighting for. He did that knowing it would at times require conflict, scrutiny, frustration, and personal sacrifice. And for that, alumni remain deeply grateful.

His farewell remarks at the conclusion of Friday’s meeting were classic Anthony Lubrano. Combative, emotional, grateful, defiant, and unmistakably Penn State:

“Courage is the ability to feel comfortable being uncomfortable.”

Chairman Kleppinger, President Bendapudi, my fellow Trustees, what I am about to say might make some uncomfortable.

Let me begin by thanking the Penn State alumni for the privilege of serving as Trustee. I am profoundly grateful to you.

Your words of encouragement during my service as Trustee provided me with the strength to carry on during some rather bleak days. I’ll be indebted to you forever for the tremendous honor you bestowed on me. Thank you.

As I reflect on the past 14 years, I recognize that it was the alumni who stood tall through our most trying days. They knew the truth then, and they know it now– Joe Paterno was used as a scapegoat.

In 2012, those same alumni came forward in record numbers to serve Penn State. No less than an unprecedented 86 alumni candidates emerged for the three available alumni-elected Trustee seats.

Contrast that to this year when only four alumni sought election and this begs the question, “why are so few alumni interested in serving?”

Could it be that we have disenfranchised them by virtue of the changes we made to the Bylaws?

The creation of a Nominating Committee empowered to exclude alumni from the ballot under the guise of qualification deficiency is one plausible explanation. After all, with these revisions, we can eliminate prospective candidates from the democratic process simply because we do not like what they say.

The constraints we’ve placed on speech is also a reasonable explanation. So much for openness and transparency, right?

Fortunately for me that these Bylaws were not in effect when I first ran in 2012.

Considered an outspoken critic of the manner in which the events of 2011 were handled, I was the target of a smear campaign in the Philadelphia Inquirer, April 22, 2012, orchestrated by then-Board crisis consultant and spin doctor du jour Lanny Davis with the help of members of the Freeh team and then-sitting members of this body including Board Chair Karen Peetz, Keith Eckel, Ken Frazer and then PA Secretary of Education Ron Tomalis along with then-acting Athletic Director and former Trustee Dave Joyner.

POLARIZING FIGURE EMERGES IN A NORMALLY QUIET VOTE FOR PENN STATE BOARD was the headline above the fold, one early Sunday morning.

The effort to discredit me, however, had the unintended consequence of strengthening support for me in the Penn State community.

So let me take this moment to thank anyone who had a hand in such an ill-conceived plan.

I would also like to thank my board colleagues. Some of you are truly engaged Trustees, and your efforts on the part of our school are inspiring. I learned from all of you, even those of you with whom I haven’t agreed. For that, I thank you.

And you have collectively taught me a very, very valuable life lesson that reminds me of the immortal words of Winston Churchill: “Never give in, never give in, never, never, never in nothing, big or small, large or big, never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense.”

My very first Board meeting took place at the Hilton Scranton Conference Center in Lackawanna County on July 12, 2012, a day many of us will likely not forget any time soon.

That day Louis Freeh stood in front of the world and announced that the culture of Penn State was bad, driven by its love for football.

“In order to avoid the consequences of bad publicity,” he said, “the most powerful leaders at the University: Spanier, Schultz, Paterno and Curley, repeatedly concealed critical facts…”

The alumni knew that to be untrue. Unfortunately, the Board of Trustees lacked the courage to defend the institution and its people. In fact, to this day, we have not refuted the “Fact-Freeh Report”. Instead, we have allowed the reputations of good men to be sullied.

Now contrast that behavior to what we witnessed from Franco Harris. In the face of adversity, Franco stood tall and made the alumni proud to be Penn Staters. He taught us all the true meaning of real leadership, and we owe him a debt of gratitude. Thank you Franco.

I love Penn State, and I’m unapologetic in my intemperance for my alma mater and the people who helped make it great.

We have many challenges facing this university. If we want to successfully face those challenges, we must all row in the same direction.

The recent hiring of Coach Matt Campbell goes a long way toward bringing us together. For that we have President Bendapudi to thank. Success With Honor is again at the forefront of our football program after a 12-year sabbatical.

So let me end where I began my service almost 14 years ago.

In order to move on we must heal. And if I might be impertinent, let me suggest that if we truly want to heal, we need to do now what we know is right and just.

We cannot allow fear nor political correctness to control the process by which we make decisions.

Let us recognize and honor the team that gave us collectively more than 120 years of service, or risk losing forever the loyalty of alumni everywhere.

In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, ‘Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.’

Honoring the Paternos matters to many of us.

So while I might be leaving this Board, I am not going anywhere.

Yes, this might be goodbye but it’s not farewell.

God bless all of you and God bless Penn State.

Thank you.”

Penn State Trustee Anthony Lubrano

I hope we have not seen the last of APL. He said this was goodbye, not farewell. Let’s hope he meant it.

As a former Penn State alumni-elected trustee, I enjoy sharing my personal observations, concerns, and ideas about Penn State. I invite you to contact me with your opinions so that we can engage in meaningful conversations on those topics: barry@barryfenchak.com.