Penn State Scandal: Transparency Is Only Way to Restore Confidence

Now that the initial shock and awe of Penn State's scandal has passed, it's time for recovery. It's a long road back to respectability for a previously highly-regarded university and restoring confidence throughout the community should be its top priority.

The best way to accomplish that is through transparency during every step of an ongoing internal investigation.

A committee was formed to figure out exactly where the breakdown occurred and how to ensure something like Jerry Sandusky's alleged sex abuse never happens again at Penn State. No secrets from their findings should be withheld from the public.

People need to believe everything that's humanly possible to be uncovered has been and that new measures are in place to keep the campus safe and secure. Anything short of that will just add to the controversy surrounding the school.

Whether that means holding weekly press conferences to update the progress or holding an open forum for community questions, it should be done. Answering questions with “no comment” isn't going to cut it.

Now is not the time to be hiding in a shroud of secrecy.

The only exception would obviously be pending legal issues that cannot be discussed under law. Otherwise, everything should be fair game.

Penn State's administration can learn a lot from interim head coach Tom Bradley. He's stepped into an extremely trying situation, is filling the shoes of a legend and is still attempting to navigate his team to a BCS bowl game.

Through it all, he's stepped up to the plate during every press conference and continued to knock it out of the park. If he can answer a question, he does and that's what people want to see right now. Someone who has nothing to hide and is focused on rebuilding a broken program.

Penn State was criticized when the scandal first broke for a lack of coordination, including a canceled media meeting with Joe Paterno. The school has done better in recent days. Hopefully they continue down this transparent path.

If not, the problems will only get worse and become more magnified, which is the last thing anybody on campus wants right now.