From the Penn State Global Forum
Last week, the Penn State Scandal rocked the very foundation of American collegiate sports. Many will even argue it went beyond that: it shook the nation’s ideals and made us all reconsider previously-thought basic ideals such as the moral/legal dichotomy, heroism, loyalty, ethics and what it takes to be a leader and man.
In what one attorney has said might be “the most high profile sex abuse case ever”, former Penn State assistant football coach, Jerry Sandusky, 67 has been accused of sexually abusing nine (maybe more?) boys between 1994 and 2009, and he faces 40 criminal charges. One of the football team’s then-graduate assistants, Mike McQueary, told Paterno he witnessed a sexual assault by Sandusky on a boy as young as 10 in the Penn State locker room showers in 2002. After being informed, Paterno alerted the university’s athletic director, Tim Curley, and senior vice-president Gary Schultz, who told university president, Graham Spanier. Curley and Schultz were charged last Monday with failing to report the suspected abuse and of perjury during their testimony before a grand jury. Mr Sandusky retired from Penn State in 1999, but continued to use the university’s facilities for his work with the Second Mile foundation, a charity for vulnerable children.
Following the revelations, Paterno and Spanier were fired last Wednesday. Earlier that day, Paterno had announced that he would resign at season’s end, but the Board of Trustees decided to act otherwise, and announced the firings later that day. The same evening, a riot broke out at the university.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUodr5Q4SAo
So that is the story in a nutshell. In the off-chance you missed it in the news; here are a couple of links going into more detail about it (including the very graphic Grand Jury report).
http://www.scribd.com/doc/72061109/Grand-Jury-Report-on-Penn-State-Sex-Abuse-Scandal
http://abcnews.go.com/US/penn-state-scandal-victim-hires-lawyer-civil-case/story?id=14946622
While the sickening nature of the crimes at hand is undeniable, society seems to have been split more on Joe Paterno’s firing than the case itself. Maybe it is because the legendary coach (56 years at Penn State, 409 wins etc.) represents a hero we usually seek, and his fall from grace challenges our concept of heroes. Or maybe it is because we can all agree on the brutality of Sandusky’s alleged actions that we would rather not talk about that. Maybe it is because, as so often in society, Paterno was the man the media chose to focus on.
Whatever the reason may be, there is no denying how divisive the topic has been. Below, we have two brothers giving their different opinions on how they feel the end of Paterno’s career should have been handled. (The brothers have asked that their names be concealed, thus we are using pseudonyms)
“Joe Had to Go”- Johnny Negrodamus (Michigan)
In support of the board’s decision.
While it is not my intention to knock the legacy of a man who did more to better community than most of us can even begin to digest, it is important that we do not justify vice by the virtue that preceded it. Truth is; Paterno was informed of sexual abuse occurring right under his nose, and he did not do enough. The police should have been involved immediately. By not taking it further, he made the statement that his legacy and the school’s name were, over the ghastly picture developing above his head, priority
The argument is made that he did not break the law; fair enough, that is why he is not being charged in a court of law. To argue, however, that his responsibility in this case was only to the law is as untrue as the argument that he was just a football coach. Paterno was- to the thousands at Penn State and beyond- a beacon of leadership and moral authority. While we have always expected to see him take a dignified stance in everything else (football or otherwise), his ‘sin of omission’ on such an important issue casts a horrific shadow over his legacy.
Should he have been allowed to stay until the end of the season as he had declared at his earlier resignation, it would have meant the Board of Trustees, the school and society as a whole is more concerned with preserving a man’s legacy than taking a human stance against child abuse: it would have meant it does not matter how horrendous an incident can be, some people are simply bigger than that. It would have meant that the lives of those affected by Sandusky’s actions were collectively not worth what JoePa was to the community.
And that is something that we, as society cannot condone. (And from the video below, even the devil wouldn’t)
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/weekend-update-the-devil-on-penn-state/1368181
“That’s No Way to Treat a Legend!”- Blue ‘n’ White Beta (Penn State)
In Paterno’s Defense
For Six decades, Joe Paterno has stood tall as the moral compass in State College. Next to its official name, the college town is known by two other monikers; ‘Happy Valley’ and ‘Paternoville’. He revolutionized Penn State Football. He is the winningest coach in the history of college ball. In the 79 years of the school’s football program prior to Paterno, the school had won 6 Bowls. After 45 years under Paterno, that number has gone up to 37. Outside of football, Paterno also donated millions of dollars toward the school library.
While all this is impressive, it does not make him larger than the law or morals, and anyone who has argued that he did not deserve to get fired because of his legendary stature is misguided and totally insensitive to the victims.
Let us, however, replay what exactly happened in this case. Mcqueary, a graduate assistant coach, allegedly witnessed Sandusky molesting a boy of about ten in the shower and reported it to Paterno. He reported to his superior, Athletic Director Tim Curley. Thereafter, McQueary met with Curley and the senior Vice President of Finance and Business Gary Schultz to elaborate on what he had witnessed. The two officials never relayed the message to the police.
So wait, what? Paterno hears allegations (not witness), tells all the right people who end up talking with the witness; and he is the fall-guy in all this?
It is undeniable that he could have done more: but there are many more people in this quagmire that definitely could have done more (by law and ethics) than Paterno could have ever done. It is unfortunate that he is the perfect media darling and that makes for a beautiful ‘rise and fall’ story. The Board of Trustees knew this as well, and there is no better face-saving measure than to sack the one name everyone can identify in the case.
One of the victims’ attorneys also came out and said Paterno’s sacking was mistimed and might be uncomfortable for the victims. While the alleged perpetrator was affiliated with Penn State, he was not Penn State, and the burden of the school’s riots and potential downfall is something that their already-troubled spirits might not want to endure.(http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/11/penn_state_board_of_trustees_g.html)
Paterno had, as he should have, said he would voluntarily resign at season’s end earlier on the day he was fired. His dismissal reeks of power-play and face-saving.
Finally, what if (and that is a big and unlikely if) Sandusky is found innocent? From the sounds of it, he is a sick man who does not deserve any clemency and almost positively did it. But, our nation prides itself on the principle of “Innocent until proven guilty’, and, believe it or not, Sandusky has not been found guilty.
Well, there you have it. Two sides to the controversial story. What do you all think?
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