I don’t usually post about personal stuff or my opinions on non-financial (erm, or non-fashion) topics, for many reasons. Still, I often find writing cathartic, and even if I end up not posting this on the blog, it helps me to get this out, to write about it even to a pretend audience.
I am a Penn Stater.
When I applied, it was just because I knew my parents couldn’t afford more than a state school, because my sister went there, and because I knew I’d be a shoo-in with my high school GPA and extracurriculars. However, after starting my Freshman year, I fell in love with the campus, the anonymity of being one in 40,000, the instant bond of being part of the Penn State family. And I fell in love with the football team.
There’s something about the stadium, the 100,000 fans crowded together, all strangers bound by a common love. It’s hard to describe the atmosphere, the excitement, the energy of hundreds of thousands of fans screaming the same cheer. My younger sister, a senior in high school, was set on going to another university; after attending a football game, she wanted to come to Penn State.
Everything this past week has been a nightmare: the horrific crimes perpetrated against children, the implication of several of the university’s highest-ranking officials, the loss of a beloved coach.
When I heard about the case (later than everyone else, I’ve been working graveyard shifts since last Thursday), I cried. I wasn’t familiar with Sandusky since my time at PSU came after his retirement, but as a victim of sexual assault and the sister of a rape victim, I understand just how much pain comes from that experience. There are no words for the monstrosity of someone doing that to children.
I understand why Joe Paterno had to be fired. I can’t help but hope that further investigation, which can proceed now that the hordes have extracted the first pound of flesh, will show that Joe’s worst crime was just that he did not do enough, that he trusted in the integrity of university officials. I still believe that he is a good person at heart, despite how he has been painted this week.
Lots of people, protected by internet anonymity, say that we can’t possibly care about the victims and our university and our coach. That if we defend our school or Joe, we don’t care enough about the children. I have enough room to grieve for all three. And I refuse to participate in the game where we all try to prove that we care the most about children being molested. You know who hates child molesters? Everyone. Who cares the most? Everyone.
If you want to post something hateful, that’s fine (if you’re a first-time commenter you’ll have to wait until I moderate it, but I promise to let all non-spam comments through), but put your money where your mouth is. I often post about how I want to donate more to charities, so here is my chance to show that I care. Hopefully, we can channel our outrage to something greater than a million angry comments on the internet.
From what I think I know (from assorted news stories) is that he reported the crimes to university higher-ups but then the higher-ups never did anything about it? That’s definitely frustrating. But I guess if I didn’t hear any news about the molester getting arrested, I probably would have gone past the higher-ups to the police…
I guess that’s where the issue was? That he could have done more than he did? Well, it also sounds like the university people should have also done more. Maybe he was afraid to report to police because he had only heard things second-hand? I guess what I’m saying is, I agree he could have done more.
But I also see your side, that, while this one thing is bad, he’s not a horrible person. He should have gone to the police, and he didn’t. But I don’t think he was trying to cover up for the molester.
I think your comment definitely highlights the issues: there’s no information! The indictment report basically just gives salient information regarding the indictment. It’s not a complete summary of everything that JoePa did.
Some of the information coming out now indicates that Joe did follow up – multiple times – but was told the accusations were unfounded.
Well said.
Joe Paterno has done a lot of great things in his life. I agree with the decision to fire him, but I find it hard to believe that he is the monster some people believe he is right now. Even as a non Penn State fan, I can find room to grieve for Paterno and his family, the current (and past) players and fans of Penn State, and the victims. As humans, we have the capacity to grieve for more than one party at a time, just as we have the capacity to love and care about many.
At that point, firing him was the only thing that could calm the situation down. It didn’t really work as well as they probably had hoped, but at that point there were too many people screaming for his blood.
The only thing evil needs to triumph is for good men to do nothing. I’m not blaming anyone but this saying stuck with me for a very long time.
That actually stuck in my mind too. It didn’t really seem Paterno-like.
This report made me feel better:
The rumor mill says that the grand jury testimony shows (not appearing in the indictment since these are not facts relevant to the indictments of Sandusky, Curley, Schultz) that 3 days after McQueary’s meeting with Curley/Schultz, Paterno followed up and was told that a full investigation was occurring. Having heard nothing, approx. 3 months later, Paterno followed up again and was told that the police and the DA were not going to pursue the matter. It is reported that Paterno’s reaction was one of anger and that he demanded that Sandusky be barred from campus. Paterno was told that he didn’t have that authority as the football coach. Paterno then said he was going to bar Sandusky from all football facilities and was told that he did have that authority. (4th hand from the AG’s office. Assign veracity accordingly.)
I am not from Penn State and do not follow football very closely, but even a newbie such as myself know that Joe Paterno had SUCH status and power within the school. I cannot believe that information from him was not taken seriously, and I cannot imagine that if he followed up the chain to command to make sure that these allegations were investigated, that nothing would have been done. I don’t believe you should judge a person solely by the worst mistake of his life, but… damn. He had power, and he should have chosen to use it to protect those kids.
I’d be careful about confusing popularity with power.
Sorry for double commenting, but there’s also some extra information that came out recently:
The rumor mill says that the grand jury testimony shows (not appearing in the indictment since these are not facts relevant to the indictments of Sandusky, Curley, Schultz) that 3 days after McQueary’s meeting with Curley/Schultz, Paterno followed up and was told that a full investigation was occurring. Having heard nothing, approx. 3 months later, Paterno followed up again and was told that the police and the DA were not going to pursue the matter. It is reported that Paterno’s reaction was one of anger and that he demanded that Sandusky be barred from campus. Paterno was told that he didn’t have that authority as the football coach. Paterno then said he was going to bar Sandusky from all football facilities and was told that he did have that authority. (4th hand from the AG’s office. Assign veracity accordingly.)
It’s possible I just am believing what I want to believe, but the above paragraph sounds a lot more like the Joe Paterno I know.
It’s