Chairwoman Karen Peetz thanked Garban for his 33 years of service to the university. In the statement, she said she respects his reasons for leaving.
Garban was the board chair at the time during the final stages of the grand jury probe into the child sex abuse scandal and was reportedly informed about the investigation weeks before Jerry Sandusky was arrested last November.
Garban sat alongside Vice Chairman John Surma, when the board announced the firing of head football coach Joe Paterno and President Graham Spanier at a late-night press conference, which sparked a destructive riot in downtown State College, leading to more than a dozen people being charged last November.
The entire Board of Trustees has been targeted with harsh criticism and calls for resignations, after the Louis Freeh investigation into the handling of the allegations determined that the board lacked oversight and accountability which failed the University.
Garban is the first member of the board to step down in the wake of the scandal.
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