John Amaechi Wants to Aid Penn State Through Scandal


Former NBA player John Amaechi, a Penn State alum who has been very vocal since the school’s horrific sexual assault scandal erupted, is looking to offer his school a bit of help and guidance. From SI: “On the other side of the Atlantic, 3,500 miles from State College, Pa., a very tall Penn State alum tries to make some sense of this contemporary Greek tragedy. Like so many, his emotions whipsaw. He is devastated for the alleged victims. He is disappointed by how his school handled this from the outset — whenever that may have been. Based in Manchester, England, former NBA player John Amaechi is a speaker, author, commentator and activist. But he works primarily as an organizational psychologist. ‘I work to help organizations that have a dysfunctional culture or climate, to help organizations with unhealthy focuses and help get them refocused,’ he says. So, yes, he says, he would love to be involved with Penn State. He’s reached out to Penn State administrators several times, offering his services. He still awaits a response. Amaechi graduated from Penn State in 1995. He was the star center on the basketball team and an Academic All-America and he wants to stress this point first: He loves his school. He is not another ‘Penn Stater Hater,’ the new phrase in heavy rotation on various message boards. ‘I will never forget or regret going to Penn State,’ he says. ‘I have great affinity for a place that helped me become who I am. The lessons I learned, the professors I got to learn from — it was remarkable.'”