Sep 16, 2012 12:26 PM EDT By Staff Reporter, UniversityHerald Reporter

Brown University officials announced Friday that the board of directors of the Brown University Athletic Hall of Fame has chosen not to remove Joe Paterno from the rolls of honored Brown athletes despite the Sandusky scandal.

"In choosing not to remove Paterno from the list of Brown's Hall of Fame athletes, the Board of Directors did not intend to diminish the tragic events that occurred at Penn State toward the end of Coach Paterno's career," reads the statement by the board.

 "It sought, rather, to acknowledge the recognition of the achievements for which it elected Paterno to the Hall of Fame nearly 35 years ago."

Joe Paterno was fired from his position of head coach of Penn State when the scandal broke out, and it was immediately followed by his death in January due to lung cancer.

The Louis Freeh report released in July named Joe Paterno among others, to have repeatedly concealed facts from authorities about Sandusky's activities and to have failed to protect the child victims because of fear of 'bad publicity'.

Penn State University even took down his symbolic statue following the release of the report.

But Brown University did not make any immediate move in dishonoring its alumnus by removing his name from the Hall of Fame.

In Thursday's meeting, the independent board of the Ivy League school officially voted not to remove Paterno from the Hall of Fame.

Paterno, a member of the class of 1950 at Brown was inducted into the Hall of Fame on May 18, 1978. His election to the Hall of Fame recognized Paterno's outstanding career as a player at Brown, quarterbacking the celebrated varsity football team of 1949, and his contributions to college sports.

The Brown Athletic Hall of Fame was organized in 1971 'to recognize alumni and others who, through outstanding performance and achievement in the fields of athletics, have brought special honor to Brown.'

It is managed by an independent board of directors consisting of up to 20 total members. Directors serve terms of three years with no limit on consecutive terms.

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