Penn State has signed Edelman and La Torre Communications, a Harrisburg-based PA firm, to a one-year contract pegged at $208K a-month to guide the recovery from its sex scandal.

The mission is to ensure a “broader and more transparent communications” with stakeholders such as facility, more than 500,000 alumni, students, staff, parents, local communities and the national media.

“Retaining these communications firms puts us more firmly on the path toward accountability, openness and preserving our reputation as one of the world’s leading research universities,” said a statement from president Rodney Erickson.

Edelman’s Charles G. Bakaly, III, senior counselor in Washington, and Jennifer Thompson, senior vice president in Chicago, handle the account.

Ketchum worked with Penn St. in the aftermath of the scandal breaking last year, while Kekst and Company represented a special committee of the school's board.