Penn State Scandal
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Katherine Calle November 27, 2011 Professor Squier Chicken Culture Penn State Scandal “…May no act of ours bring shame To one heart that loves thy name, May our lives but swell thy fame, Dear old State, dear old State” When I look back at what happened at Penn State the last couple of weeks, a mixture of emotions start to overcome me. The first memory that comes to mind is standing in front of Joe Paterno’s house a couple of days before he got fired. I engaged in the cheering and the enthusiasm that all the other proud Penn State students had. Paterno soon came out of his house to say a few words. What impacted me the most was when he said that we should not be worrying about him or his future but we should be worrying about our school work, our education, and ourselves. At that moment I realized that Paterno did not care about himself, football, or his career but he cared about each and every one of us and our education. The very next day at work I encountered a Penn State alumnus who was very upset and had a very deep opinion on the situation. She said something that I would never forget, and I quote “I am very ashamed to be a Penn State alumnus. I will never again wear any Penn State attire and I agree with that alumnus who burned his diploma.” At this moment I did not know what to think. At first I was shocked and all I could think was how great the education was at this university and how the entire university was taking blame for the horror that a single man did.
For that entire week or so all I saw on the television was Penn State, Penn State, and more Penn State. Not only did I also see Joe Paterno’s name on all the news channels but it was a rare occasion when Jerry Sandusky’s name was brought up on the news. My first opinion on the situation was that Paterno did everything that “fulfilled his legal obligation.” When I thought of Joe Paterno I would think of a great man that dedicated his entire life and family to this university, I would think of the million dollar library, the various programs to help out students in need, and of course his outstanding coaching career. After reading the article written by Meg Fowler, “bearing responsibility” my opinion changed. This article allowed me to see the other side of the story. Here at Penn State we are blinded by the football legacy we have gained over the years. If you ask a non Penn State student what the first thing they think about when they hear Penn State most of them will tell you “football” or “Joe Paterno”. Others will tell you that we are number one job recruited in the country or about the millions of dollars THON has raised over the years to help fight cancer in children, but I guarantee that number is very low. It is interesting how all you can think of when you think about Penn State is Joe Paterno. We have to keep in mind that it is not about a million dollar library, or our great football legacy being tarnished, it is about the several innocent children that will now be scared for life because of Sandusky’s actions and the witnesses failure to report what they saw or heard. Here it seems that we only care about ourselves and our integrity but sometimes we have to see things from others point of view and realize that maybe we are at fault and because of our lack of action we now have to take upon the consequences as they come.
Jerry Sandusky did horrible things to innocent children on Penn State preemies. Not only did he partake in these actions multiple times but he was seen by many. If you read the grand jury report you will see that these people who actually saw Sandusky in these actions did the same thing that Joe Paterno did, they did what “fulfilled their legal obligation.” When the police were involved they did minimal investigation and no legal action was taken against Sandusky. The fact that no action was taken against Sandusky in the many years of his actions leaves us with much responsibility and no one to bear it. Some might say it was Paterno’s responsibility to make sure that this was taken to higher authorities and he should have kept up with the investigations. Others say that it was Mike McQueary’s responsibility because he was the one, out of many, who physically saw the actions taking place. In my opinion, Joe Paterno, Mike McQueary, Graham Spanier, everyone else who saw these actions taking place or knew about the actions and the parents of these children all had the responsibility to make sure something was done about the situation. All these people mentioned have the moral responsibility to make sure every child is safe. Not only did these people pay for not taking the appropriate action but the university as a whole is now taking the responsibility for everything. From now on when people think of Penn State University not only are they going to think about its great academic program, the amount of support there is to help cancer in children, the great athletic departments, the thousands of alumni the school has around the world, but what is going to stick out the most is how Penn State was associated with a child sex abuse scandal that could have been stopped if the right people had taken on their responsibility to do more than what was expected from them.
For that entire week or so all I saw on the television was Penn State, Penn State, and more Penn State. Not only did I also see Joe Paterno’s name on all the news channels but it was a rare occasion when Jerry Sandusky’s name was brought up on the news. My first opinion on the situation was that Paterno did everything that “fulfilled his legal obligation.” When I thought of Joe Paterno I would think of a great man that dedicated his entire life and family to this university, I would think of the million dollar library, the various programs to help out students in need, and of course his outstanding coaching career. After reading the article written by Meg Fowler, “bearing responsibility” my opinion changed. This article allowed me to see the other side of the story. Here at Penn State we are blinded by the football legacy we have gained over the years. If you ask a non Penn State student what the first thing they think about when they hear Penn State most of them will tell you “football” or “Joe Paterno”. Others will tell you that we are number one job recruited in the country or about the millions of dollars THON has raised over the years to help fight cancer in children, but I guarantee that number is very low. It is interesting how all you can think of when you think about Penn State is Joe Paterno. We have to keep in mind that it is not about a million dollar library, or our great football legacy being tarnished, it is about the several innocent children that will now be scared for life because of Sandusky’s actions and the witnesses failure to report what they saw or heard. Here it seems that we only care about ourselves and our integrity but sometimes we have to see things from others point of view and realize that maybe we are at fault and because of our lack of action we now have to take upon the consequences as they come.
Jerry Sandusky did horrible things to innocent children on Penn State preemies. Not only did he partake in these actions multiple times but he was seen by many. If you read the grand jury report you will see that these people who actually saw Sandusky in these actions did the same thing that Joe Paterno did, they did what “fulfilled their legal obligation.” When the police were involved they did minimal investigation and no legal action was taken against Sandusky. The fact that no action was taken against Sandusky in the many years of his actions leaves us with much responsibility and no one to bear it. Some might say it was Paterno’s responsibility to make sure that this was taken to higher authorities and he should have kept up with the investigations. Others say that it was Mike McQueary’s responsibility because he was the one, out of many, who physically saw the actions taking place. In my opinion, Joe Paterno, Mike McQueary, Graham Spanier, everyone else who saw these actions taking place or knew about the actions and the parents of these children all had the responsibility to make sure something was done about the situation. All these people mentioned have the moral responsibility to make sure every child is safe. Not only did these people pay for not taking the appropriate action but the university as a whole is now taking the responsibility for everything. From now on when people think of Penn State University not only are they going to think about its great academic program, the amount of support there is to help cancer in children, the great athletic departments, the thousands of alumni the school has around the world, but what is going to stick out the most is how Penn State was associated with a child sex abuse scandal that could have been stopped if the right people had taken on their responsibility to do more than what was expected from them.
