The Penn State board of trustees gathered Wednesday afternoon to discuss whether President Rodney Erickson had the authority to agree to unprecedented NCAA sanctions against the football program without first getting the board's approval, according to a person with knowledge of the meeting.

The trustees and Erickson assembled in a meeting room on the first floor of a hotel in the city of State College, home to Penn State's main campus. Reporters were kept out.

A person who was not authorized to talk about the meeting and spoke on the condition of anonymity said the trustees were to confront Erickson over his acceptance of NCAA sanctions that will cost Penn State tens of millions of dollars and likely cripple its football team for years to come.