Penn State to establish center for child abuse

Penn State plans to use its remaining bowl revenue to establish a center for the research, prevention and treatment of child abuse victims.

The Center for the Protection of Children will have its beginning at the Hershey Medical Center, where faculty members already have strong programs in pediatric areas, university spokeswoman Lisa Powers said.

The initial funding is expected to be at least $500,000, she said. Penn State already has committed $1.5 million from Penn State's share of the Big Ten bowl revenues in a partnership with the Pennsylvania Coaltion Against Rape and the National Sexual Violence Center.

Penn State is playing Houston in the TicketCity Bowl in Dallas on Jan. 2, although the Big Ten pools its bowl money and then distributes it to the schools. The revenue is generally at last $2 million in total, Powers said.

"We are not going to run away from the issue," university president Rodney Erickson said Tuesday at a Faculty Senate meeting. "We can use the Big Ten bowl game to spread awareness of the issue."

Powers said more details on the center will be available in the coming in the days

"Eventually, we will expand to tap into the vast knowledge and experience of faculty across the university in areas as diverse as law, education, social sciences, psychology, and more," Powers said in an email of the plans.