STATE COLLEGE — Penn State’s trustees on Tuesday voted against taking a fresh look at the 2012 university-commissioned report into how the Jerry Sandusky molestation scandal was handled, disappointing many who have criticized the report as deeply flawed and unfairly damaging to the institution.

The board voted 17-9 against a resolution backed by alumni-elected trustees that would have set up a group to comb through the report and seek answers from Louis Freeh, the former FBI director who led the team that produced it.

Many alumni have been critical of the board’s handling of the aftermath of the scandal and particularly how the school treated late football coach Joe Paterno, prompting a successful trustee election effort.

“There is no downside, none at all, if we review the report,” said Bob Jubelirer, an alumni trustee — and former state senator — who joined the board this year. “This is controversial — it has damaged this university.”

The debate demonstrated the deep divide among board members about what to do regarding the report, which concluded Paterno and top administrators concealed key facts about Sandusky’s abuse to avoid bad publicity.

“I truly cannot understand why a truly engaged trustee who’s paying attention would not vote wholeheartedly today in favor of this resolution,” said alumni-elected trustee Bill Oldsey, arguing the trustees needed to do more to defend the school in light of the consequences of the Freeh report and NCAA sanctions.