State Patty’s Dangerous to Image After Scandal

This is the first of a five-part series detailing Onward State’s stance on State Patty’s Day.

It’s February and THON is just around the corner. And we all know what that means: State Patty’s Day is lurking right behind it. There has been a lot of discussion over the last several years about the harms this “holiday” brings along with the drinking and merriment, including the potential disgrace to the reputation of our school and community. But this year, that concern takes on a whole new tone. So we at Onward State want you to take a moment and ask yourselves, “Do I care about the image of Penn State?”

We’re not going to ask you not to participate in State Patty’s festivities; calling for an outright end to the holiday would be unfeasible. But in light of last semester’s revelations, we urge everyone who celebrates SPD this year to keep Dear Old State’s image in the back of their minds throughout the weekend and be responsible.

Like it or not, the Sandusky Scandal thrust Happy Valley into the national spotlight, and while it has faded some in the months that have passed since the media frenzy, we are still under close watch. Jerry Sandusky is still in the midst of pretrial hearings. Anything out of the ordinary that happens on or around this campus is bound to draw outside attention, especially thousands of drunken college kids being destructive in the streets of downtown.

The minute things start to get out of hand, national media outlets might pick up on it. And if they do, they’ll be running stories about how destructive, irresponsible and unsafe Penn State students are. They’ll claim that we’re all just a bunch of drunken, football-crazed idiots who couldn’t care less about or don’t understand the child sex abuse scandal our university is embroiled in. Sound familiar?

None of us liked the way we were collectively perceived after the riot. We looked bad. We looked real bad. While State Patty’s won’t carry the same weight as the riot due to its temporal proximity and motivations, it still has the potential to damage our reputation in the wake of the scandal. You might not see the connection, but the media will: students being conspicuously reckless despite the fact that their school is still dealing with a scandal.

This university’s name has been dragged through the mud since the scandal broke. We really don’t need to make it look any worse. Remember: we’re all in this together. Anything one student does reflects upon the whole student body. So on State Patty’s Day, please be safe and responsible and keep your guests in check.

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Natalie Harp

…especially if someone dies or experiences a life-changing injury.
Lynn

I totally agree with you on this – but you need to take a look at your student-run website. Why don’t you clean it up? The vulgar languages used in the news articles, drunk, high & sober, etc. Why don’t you clean up your act if you want others to listen to you on this?
Leah

*dragged through the mud.

Honestly, a science major can use grammar better than you?
Dan Vecellio

This is a large difference between a story where two students take a different look at the coverage of a story and 30,000 kids destroying an entire university and town.

Regarding the language, the beauty of being an independent, student-run website means we can say what we want since we don’t have a university watchdog looking upon our every word. Just because there are a few curse words at times does not take away from the ideas presented or saying that we have a “dirty act”.

This is Onward State and it has been for over three years now.
Guy

Tell me when SPD has ever thrown PSU in a national spotlight, did newsweek,time or nytimes talk about SPD? Nope
Guest

Don’t think you needed the ? at the end of your sentence.
Mark

…You…clearly didn’t read and comprehend.
Alex Federman

In regards to “vulgar language,” this is how students talk. We are students, covering news (and student life) for the Penn State community (which includes many students). Sorry if it offends your sensibilities, and I think sometimes the language we use helps to get across our message stronger. And what Dan said.
Craig

They haven’t in the past. But PSU is already in the national spotlight. State Patty’s, if it’s as large as it has been in past years, WILL reflect badly on the university and everyone who attends, or has attended, it.

Not to mention, the real Saint Patrick’s Day is both not over spring break, AND on a Saturday this year. If there were ever a year to not celebrate state patty’s, this is it.
lol

you know what’s funny about this article, almost everyone at Onward State is going to participate in SPD in some capacity.
Matt D’Ippolito

This has been fixed. Thank you.
Matt D’Ippolito

Actually, our argument is that since we are already in the national spotlight because of the scandal, SPD might garner unwanted media attention this year.
guest

While I think that the idea of the National media covering State Patty’s Day is extremely far-fetched, I do think that State Patty’s Day is trashy and unfair to the surrounding community. Wasn’t the ‘holiday’ started when Spring Break fell on St. Patrick’s Day? I could be mistaken, but either way I don’t see why college students need an excuse to get drunk, and certainly recklessly drunk.
Finnegan Bojangles

Worse yet, if last year is any indicator, most of the nonsense and destruction will be caused by non-Penn State students. The last thing I want is the university’s reputation (and the value of my diploma) tarnished even more than it already is when the actions of kids from Temple, Shippensburg, and the 8 busloads of Delaware students get tacked onto our student body.
Eli G

There is a difference between enjoying a few drinks on a Saturday, and engaging in destructive activity. Whatever Onward State members choose to do during SPD, it will not be detrimental to the community.
Class of 11

Onward State shut-up, The Sandusky scandal is a Sandusky scandal, not a PSU scandal. If you believe what Sandusky did rreflects on PSU you are a moron, the media does it, as you are doing now. If we r ever going to get past this, you got to stop bringing it up in such a way that reflects poorly on us. Sandusky did what he did, and just because he worked at PSU doesnt make it a PSU scandal. State Pattys is a holiday where students just have fun. Have you heard of New Years or July 4th, the entire US gets trashed. PSU students have fun this State Pattys, you deserve it after doing great work for THON and having to endure what Sandusky did to the community. Drink up and enjoy State Pattys
Alex Federman

This year is different. Look at how the national news picked up on our Paterno story after the coverage of the riot during the initial break of the Sandusky scandal. SPD has become increasingly worse, and it’s definitely a possibility that the national news might pick up on a story in the CDT or another local paper (or OS, or StateCollege.com).

We’ll be publishing other editorials this week focusing on other aspects of State Patty’s.
Finnegan Bojangles

They’re not advocating people to stop the holiday entirely, they want people to party responsibly and safely with the public perception of the university in mind. Seriously, this is the second comment like this, are people even reading the article?
Finnegan Bojangles

Public opinion says it’s the Penn State Scandal, not the Sandusky Scandal. Even though we’re 3 hours removed from any form of civilization, we don’t live in a vacuum. “Students having fun” is going to be skewed by the media as “Students don’t care about the victims of child abuse and are partying for the sake of partying.” We as a student body need to tread very carefully over the next few months or even years, unless we want to see a dozen news vans lined up on College Avenue again.
lol

u know the real question here is whether or not your name is really finnegan bojangles.
Matt M.

This reflects my thoughts in regard to State Patty’s celebration: people can still celebrate, but they should do it with discression and not do anything foolish. If the media decides to camp in town, it just goes to show that they have nothing better to do than exploit an event and bend the truth in order to get higher ratings. All I know is that I’m not going to partake in any nonsense that can be used against Penn State.
Shawn Inglima

What sucks about this whole situation is that the rest of the country doesn’t know the situation that we are in nor what we have gone through. Even though we aren’t to blame for the scandal, it was the student body that acted in the riot. News Years and July 4th are national holidays; State Patty’s is all Penn State. Be responsible with your drinking as any person should. If the media sees drunk students pissing and vomitting everywhere, they will wait for a riot to ignite. If a riot doesn’t occur, which it shouldn’t, the media would create an alternative story so that they don’t waste their time. A negative light is on Penn State. Negative actions will make that light worse.
Class of 11

The riot was not over the sandusky case it was about firing Joepa. Anyone with half a brain could see we care for the victims but we love our own family (PSU) the most. It may sound bad but the most we can do is get Sandusky in jail, children are being abused everyday, are all the students at PSU suppose to stop those people too. C’mon people have some common sense
Andy

I’m just going to keep saying how I think State Patty’s makes State College less fun. Closed down and clogged up bars, no Greek life, and an explosion in the number of DBs and riot police wandering the streets all make it the least appealing weekend of the semester. It’s always great to have friends come visit and share the wonders of a Happy Valley weekend, but when it goes so far as to make the University, town, and even IFC to take large, expensive steps to prevent the holiday, it just isn’t worth it anymore. The original State Patty’s was a cool idea that was fun in reality, as well. The last few years, though, the response has just resulted in a hassle. You need need a faux holiday to get smashed; indeed I encourage you to take advantage of the ease while you’re in such a wonderful place. All State Patty’s does is get in the way and result in embarrassing consequences for the student and residential communities.
Andy

*don’t need a faux holiday.
GTWMA

USA Today talked about SPD. All major PA news outlets did. Washington Post did. US News and World Report did.
JBL

Lynn: I’m not a student…I’m a parent, of a grad, and you know what? I read this paper daily. No, I’m not reading from my helicopter, I think that this online paper is honestly informative, non-biased, and frankly, very refreshing. And, I don’t think that they should be censored. We ALL use the ‘f’ bomb, or say “S**t” every once in a while. Get over it. When these students graduate & are in the ‘real world’ of journalism, or wahtever theri chosen fields, they will not have the freedom to report as tehy do now. I find it refreshing. If you don’t like it, don’t read it.
With regard to SPD……I think that more problems are from the non-PSU kids who rush up to visit their friends who are in school at PSU. These visitors go wild. Why not just celebrate SPD on the ‘real’ holiday…..it’s on a Saturday this year.
John

What happens when some asshole from Temple comes to visit his ‘friends’ that weekend, makes a Sandusky joke, and all the drunks around him beat the shit out of him?

This is not what PSU needs right now. At all.
Matt D’Ippolito

This is exactly why I will be out of town for SPD.
Ben

What part of this scandal doesn’t have to do with Penn State? It’s pretty much as connected as it gets.
Anthony

I think it is horrible that you would associate State Patty’s Day with THON at all in your statement.
Anthony

Ya I find it very confusing that this one year it falls on a weekend people want to have 2….. don’t give me a response that it’s just because its that way. For the freshman and others who have no idea why State Patty’s Day was created it was because the adminstration purposely put spring break one year around Saint Patty’s Day when it never was before. This year you get it and on a weekend!
Ryan

Are you kidding me, dude? Go check out the This American Life episode called “#1 Party School.” They don’t cover SPD explicitly, but trust me, the fact that our school is filled with alcoholics is not lost on anybody in the national media.
abe

wait…unfair to the community that would suffer without 40,000 customers to their businesses?
PSU2013

I’m going to get drunk and find a girl thats DTF and Onward State isn’t gonna stop me
Matt

http://pennstatermag.com/2010/03/02/the-fallout-from-state-pattys-day/

That tells you the places it’s been covered, including the Inquireror, Washington Post & US News and World Report…..trust me, it will be more this year.
Dark Years

BREAKING NEWS: COLLEGE STUDENTS CONSUME LOTS OF ALCOHOL ON SPECIAL DRINKING DAY
Finnegan Bojangles

Of course it’s not. My real name is Engelbert Humperdinck.
David Adewumi

Speaking as a Penn Stater who was born and raised in State College and now lives far from Happy Valley, I think these recent events will be on people’s minds for a long, long time in connection to Penn State.

Fortunately, for the alleged victims, justice is being sought through our court systems. Unfortunately, for Penn State both as an institution and representing the hundreds of thousdands of folks connected ot that institution — every story related to Penn State in national media from the passing of Coach Joe Paterno, to the resignation of The Chairman and Vice Chairman of the board of trustees, will continue to highlight and regurgitate the story of the scandal.

That, of course, is how media works.

If we played a name association game and I said “Tiger Woods” or “Lance Armstrong” or “Kobe Bryant” while once may something positive, another may something negative — even from events allegedly from years ago. In the same way, even when I’m in California, to even mention a breath of State College or Penn State is to instantly begin yet another conversation about the tragic events that happened here.

I admire, and praise the work of Penn Staters both in the local community and globally to help restore the glory; however, I also recognize that in a way, what has been done is done and our energy as a community is best spent on now and the future, not the past.

Onward, State. Onward.
la

Except the fact that many buisnesses close down during that weekend…
Guest

Oh wait, we just raised about 10 million dollars for pediatric cancer? And now we can’t celebrate? I forgot how terrible of a student body we are that we don’t do anything good. Considering only students raise this money and organize the entire event.
Tom Macaluso

You guys have this idea that State Patty’s Day lands national coverage. Outside of the Penn State family and surrounding counties, there are few people, other than students, that actually know what State Patty’s Day is. We are no special than anyone else. MANY colleges have special drinking/party days in the Spring.