A friend gave me two tickets for the Penn State/Illinois game, the final game of a storied chapter in Penn State's history. The last game when we still believed that Penn State ran an exemplary football program. When we could look at an Ohio State or a Miami and feel moral superiority. When we could be proud of a program that preached the things we value: education, integrity, honor.
When former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was arrested, when it became clear that Penn State administrators knew about a horrible incident involving Sandusky and a young boy that took place here on campus, our innocence was lost.
I sat down and started to read the Grand Jury report, but could not bring myself to read past Victim 1. I still find it hard to believe that Sandusky, a man who seemed dedicated to helping children, could have done such awful things.
Way back in 1977, Sandusky founded The Second Mile. It started as a group foster home, serving 45 local boys in its first year. Today, it serves 100,000 boys and girls annually throughout the Commonwealth in various prevention, early-intervention, and community based programs. I've had friends involved in mentoring programs with The Second Mile, I supported the organization as our employee's choice charity a few years back, and importantly, I really believe in the work this organization does. I've heard stories about the kids that participate in their programs and I know The Second Mile makes a difference in their lives. Today, I am afraid for the organization and for the children it serves. I wonder how it goes on in light of the events surrounding it, as more and more people now come forward against Sandusky.
Penn State is my alma mater, and I love Penn State. But I am angry.
I am angry at Sandusky who used a position of trust and leadership to hurt children.
I am angry at the Penn State janitor who witnessed inappropriate activity back in 2000 and said nothing. NOTHING. For fear of losing his job.
I am angry at Mike McQueary, whose name does not come out often enough in all of this. I understand that Sandusky was a man he knew and I am sure respected up until that moment in Lasch Building, but how, when he realized that Sandusky was sodomizing a young boy, did he not step into that shower and put an end to it. Right then. Why was his first call to his father and not the police? When it became obvious there would be no investigation, that the only 'fallout' from the incident would be to ban Sandusky from bringing children onto campus, how did he not come forward then? How does he sleep at night?
I am angry with Joe Paterno. This is a man who is revered here in State College. If you are not a graduate of Penn State or you do not have local ties to this area, perhaps that is hard to understand. But here is a man who has given more than 60 years of his life to Penn State, who helped to make this school more than just an agricultural school in Central Pennsylvania. He gives generously of his time, makes substantial financial contributions to the university and throughout the community. Until a week ago, he had the reputation of running a good program. Kids were students before they were athletes. They graduate. They don't get into trouble... at least no more than other college kids do.
But I am told he runs a tight ship around here. He controls that football program and is one of the most powerful men at Penn State. What he wants, he gets. And if that is the case, than what he should have wanted was for Sandusky to go to jail following that night in 2002; he should have wanted more than just Sandusky's ban from bringing children onto campus. He should have washed his hands of Sandusky right on the spot. No more office in Lasch Building, no more access to team facilities. No more affiliation with the program. None.
And jail. Did I mention jail? Because Paterno is a father and a grandfather and he should have been as outraged at the allegations as the rest of us now are. If there was anyone who could have pushed for action, it was Paterno. If there was ever a time where Penn State could have recovered from this, it was then.
When you announce that a former coach was discovered in an illegal act with a young child, that authorities were called immediately, that he was immediately removed from campus, from all affiliation with the football program, of course there would be some backlash - how could there not be in the 24/7 media cycle. But it would be nothing like what is going on now. It would have blown over quickly. We would have done the right thing. Children would have been protected. Joe's legacy, untarnished.
Instead, the winningest coach in Division 1 history will be remembered for what he didn't do instead of what he did. And while I am so angry at him, I am a little sad about this. I imagine his career will be over soon, I can't see any other way for the Board of Trustees to proceed than to clean house. Starting at the top... the top of the university with Graham Spanier and the top of the football program with Joe Paterno. I wish Joe's story had a different ending. A happy ending.
While much of the focus of this story has shifted to Paterno, he is not, nor should he be, the full story. This is a story about looking the other way, of protecting an institution over protecting children for nearly a decade.
I am angry with Tim Curley (Athletic Director), Gary Schultz (VP of Business and Finance), and Graham Spanier (President). I am disgusted with these men who should have come forward, who as far as I am concerned had a moral obligation to do so, but instead chose to protect their image.
I read a great quote yesterday from Bob Ford, a sports columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer:
"If Penn State athletic coaches and administrators could look the other way when a 10-year-old is sexually assaulted on campus by a prominent former coach, what wouldn't they do? What could possibly be beyond their capability to accept in order to protect the "good name" of the program?"
Penn State will never be the same.
And so now what remains for me, as an alumna of the university, as a resident this community? The Board of Trustees will take action which I believe will result in the termination of both Graham Spanier and Joe Paterno. A search for a new President... one I hope values emerging technologies as much as Spanier. I have to believe different leadership at Penn State may view Rich's work group differently than our current administration does (and selfishly, only one of us should be unemployed at a time).
For McQueary, for Paterno, for all the others who knew something was amiss but did nothing to stop it, there's a lifetime of guilt for their complicity in this. There's a hope for absolution that may never come.
And for Sandusky, his day in court, where now more than 20 victims stand ready to face him, will come. Twenty boys, now men, to let him know that what he did to them was NOT ok. There will be prison. And most importantly, there will come a day where he stands before God for the judgment that matters most.
For the victims, I cannot begin to imagine what comes next for them. I hope there is solace in knowing that this man they once trusted cannot hurt anyone else. More than that though, I hope they find peace.
For them, I am heartbroken.
Beautifully said
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