STATE COLLEGE — Penn State University officials have vowed to increase transparency and ethical standards and plan to donate $1.5 million in bowl proceeds to a pair of sex-crime advocacy organizations in the wake of sex-abuse allegations levied against a former assistant football coach.

University President Rod Erickson promised the donation this morning, a day after he and other administrators faced pointed questions at a student-organized town hall forum.

Erickson told The Associated Press in an interview today that the Big Ten bowl revenue, which usually goes back to the athletic department, will go to the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape and the National Sexual Violence Resource Center.

“This presents an excellent opportunity for Penn State to raise the national visibility of this issue,” Erickson said. “Our students and fans are focused on a cause to play for, to cheer for.”