Judge blocks Penn State board from voting to remove trustee

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Pennsylvania judge has blocked Penn State University's board of trustees from voting to remove a member who is suing the board over access to financial information, calling the vote potentially “retaliatory.”

Board member Barry Fenchak, an investment adviser, believes the board paid unusually high advisory fees for its $4.5 billion endowment. The fees have tripled since 2018, the Center County judge said.

Fenchak, who was elected to an alumni seat on the board in 2022, also wants details on Penn State's planned $700 million renovation of Beaver Stadium, which will seat more than 100,000 people. The board approved the stadium updates this year.

In blocking Fenchak's deposition Wednesday, Center County Judge Brian K. Marshall said he presented testimony and evidence “of retaliation to which he was subjected by the defendants.”

The board had accused Fenchak of violating its code of conduct when he allegedly made an inappropriate comment to a university employee after a meeting at the school's Altoona campus in July. The 36-member board had planned to vote on his removal on Thursday.

The judge said there were other ways to eliminate the alleged offense without removing Fenchak. He now attends meetings virtually.

“Allowing his removal would cast a renewed shadow over the defendants’ financial dealings, to the detriment of all PSU (Penn State University) stakeholders except those at the top of the PSU hierarchy,” Marshall wrote.

Investment fees increased from 0.62% before 2018 to about 2.5% in 2018-19 and to over 1.8% in the years thereafter, the judge said in the order.

“Penn State wants to operate behind closed doors with 'yes men' and 'yes women.' And Trustee Fenchak is asking questions,” his attorney Terry Mutchler said Thursday. “The board doesn’t like it and they tried to throw him out the door.”

Penn State University spokesman Wyatt DuBois said the university is reviewing the decision.

Meanwhile, a second Penn State University trustee has a lawsuit pending against the board over the costs of defending himself in an internal board investigation. A judge in Lackawanna County ruled last month that the agency must end its investigation into Anthony Lubrano until his legal fees are paid. Lubrano had unsuccessfully tried to rename the stadium after the late coach Joe Paterno. The nature of the investigation remains confidential.