NEW YORK — Penn State President Rodney Erickson assured frustrated alumni that he was a good listener.

Erickson heard the same themes over and over in three cities in three days of often tense meetings with the university’s graduates.

Why hasn’t the board of trustees been more accountable? Why wasn’t the school’s public relations response better prepared when officials knew a former football assistant coach was being investigated?

And, of course: Why was Joe Paterno fired?

Erickson faced about 300 alums in a packed hotel ballroom in lower Manhattan on Friday night, the last stop on a road trip intended to calm anger about how the university has dealt with a child sex abuse scandal involving longtime defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky.

Instead, the sessions have triggered more anguish and another round of introspection for the people who love the school and its football program.

The questions Friday were similar to the previous two nights in Pittsburgh and outside Philadelphia. A teary-eyed woman asked: “How do you explain the lack of due process for Joe Paterno?” That drew sustained if not unanimous applause.

“I can assure you that as I go back to the Penn State campus, I will think deeply about the messages you have provided me,” Erickson said in his closing remarks. “I have listened well. I listen and I learn. I hope you all keep that faith that we will move forward.”

He ended things by saying: “We’re going to be OK.” That drew a big ovation.

The school has yet to start making plans on how to honor Paterno, Erickson said earlier, though he promised again that a tribute was coming. As in previous meetings, the president spent several minutes listing the university’s many accomplishments in academics and athletics.

But that was little solace to alumni.

The perceived lack of communication by trustees in the two months since Paterno’s firing Nov. 9 has roiled many graduates.

“Honestly, I feel like I was given the company line,” Virginia Alvarez, a lawyer from the Class of 1997 who asked the question about due process, said afterward. “I don’t feel like we have the answers. I think the people who need to call into question are the board of trustees. Show us the minutes of those meetings.”