Penn State trustee could be removed, barred from serving after judge’s ruling
Penn State’s governing body could potentially vote to remove one of its members before his term expires — a decision that would make him permanently ineligible to serve again — after a Centre County judge lifted his preliminary injunction Friday.
Centre County Judge Brian Marshall vacated his injunction that prevented the university’s board of trustees from voting on the removal of Barry Fenchak, finding the basis for it has since become moot. It had been in place since October.
Fenchak’s attorney Terry Mutchler was critical of the ruling Tuesday, telling the Centre Daily Times she believed Marshall “erred in the big picture and the long game.” Penn State did not immediately respond Tuesday to an email from the CDT.
Marshall granted the injunction in the fall after Fenchak showed the board was trying to remove him in retaliation for his repeated requests for information, namely the university’s approximately $4.57 billion endowment and a reportedly $1 billion athletic department contract with a ticketing and fan engagement agency.
But in the seven months since, Fenchak was given 510 pages of information related to the endowment and a complete, unredacted copy of the contract with Elevate. He can no longer claim he is subject to removal from the board because of those specific requests, Marshall wrote.
Fenchak’s three-year term expires June 30. One of nine trustees elected by alumni on the 36-member board, he did not win a second term in the most recent election. His name was barred from appearing on the ballot after a board subcommittee deemed him unqualified and ineligible and Marshall rejected his attempt to force his way onto the ballot.
Attorneys for the university and Fenchak argued their case at a hearing earlier this month. In a moment indicative of what appears to be an unsalvageable relationship, each side claimed the other is obsessed with them.
Though he ruled in the board’s favor, Marshall took exception with how it described one of its members.
“Throughout the course of this litigation, Mr. Fenchak has demonstrated himself to be a dedicated member of the PSU community, who at all times has held a good faith belief that his work on the Board of Trustees is for the greater good of the institution and the students that it serves,” Marshall wrote.
Mutchler doubled down Tuesday, saying the board is “obsessed with anyone that is not a yes man” and often passes proposals with little, if any, public discussion or a dissenting vote.
“You can’t get that kind of lockstep agreement on ordering a pizza, let alone on a billion dollar contract and closing campuses,” Mutchler said.
The ruling was the latest chapter in a relationship defined by a series of dust-ups.
Fenchak has filed two lawsuits against the board, floated the possibility of another and used the phrase “abject clown show” in reference to the financials for the massive Beaver Stadium renovation.
In response, the board forced Fenchak to read aloud in court a social media post in which he called a former woman trustee a “stupid b----,” asked her to shoot herself and to “blow away - like old, dried up dog crap.” The further described Fenchak as an “internet troll” who has shown an “abhorrent display of misogyny.”
Shortly after Fenchak filed his first lawsuit, the board tried to remove him when a junior female staff member said she was made uncomfortable by him. Loosely quoting the 1992 PG-rated movie “A League of Their Own,” Fenchak said he can’t wear baseball hats because his wife tells him he “looks like a penis with a little hat on.”
A board subcommittee found it to be a code of conduct violation and unanimously recommended his ouster.
Marshall halted the full board’s vote a day before it was scheduled, finding Fenchak had provided “uncontradicted evidence of a broad pattern of retaliatory behavior” by the board. With his ruling Friday, Marshall paved the way for Fenchak’s potential removal.
“I believe that the cause that Barry Fenchak put forward — whatever you think of him — has planted the seeds for a stronger, better Penn State, of which most everybody in this case is an alum,” Mutchler said.
Fenchak’s second lawsuit against the board — one that alleges the board’s bylaws are illegal — is ongoing. Penn State has asked Marshall to dismiss the suit, casting it as inappropriate.
A hearing is scheduled for July 30.
“This is not the last word on trustee Fenchak,” Mutchler said.
This story was originally published May 20, 2025 at 11:22 AM.