Colleges review handling of abuse allegations

As college campuses across the region reopen for the second semester, an issue front and center for many is making sure their schools are protected from having a child sex-abuse scandal like the one that rocked Penn State to its core last fall.

Area colleges reported that they were reviewing their policies, providing training to employees on handling complaints of abuse, and reinforcing laws and procedures that require employees to report abuse.

Their work comes as Penn State continues to cope with the aftermath of the scandal involving child sexual-abuse allegations against its former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. Both Penn State's former president Graham B. Spanier and iconic football coach Joe Paterno lost their jobs in the fallout as the university's board of trustees questioned why problems stemming back to an alleged eyewitness report in 2002 were not dealt with earlier.

"Anything like this that happens on one campus causes all of us to reconsider how we would handle something like that or how we're handling things to prevent something like that," said Sharon Latchaw Hirsh, president of Rosemont College. "It was something that you really couldn't ignore."

Hirsh said Rosemont has been in touch by e-mail with several universities, and they are collectively looking at their policies. Rosemont declined to release the names of the other universities, saying they requested not to be identified.

"One main thing [they discussed] was that most of us bring in some auxiliary revenue by hosting different vendors on campus over the summer," Hirsh said, "and in a lot of cases that is a group that works with" minors.

Rosemont, for example, hosts both a tennis camp and a computer camp for children, she said.

The college is making sure that anyone renting Rosemont facilities knows they must abide by college policies and regulations, she said. The policy also extends to board members, alumni, and others while they are on campus, she said.

"We're saying, 'When you're on Rosemont's campus, you are held to the same standard,' " she said.

Temple University also hosts a number of camps for youngsters over the summer and has reviewed its policies to be sure safeguards are in place, spokesman Ray Betzner said.

The university has given some additional training to athletic coaches on school policies, he added.