Thousands in the Penn State community lined up along College Avenue and Curtain Road to view the funeral procession of former Penn State Football Coach Joseph Paterno, who passed away on January 22, 2012, ending his fight with lung cancer. He was 85 years old. After the jump are images from today's procession.
The Westboro Baptist Church plans to picket Joe Paterno's funeral today, but it's best to just ignore them. Check out some peaceful counter protests on campus after the jump.
Tuesday afternoon, the PSU faculty senate voted against the motion of “no confidence” aimed towards the Board of Trustees. By a wide margin, 128 senate members voted against the measure while 58 voted yes.
This is a truly historic time for this University. It is the end of the Joe Paterno era. It is the end of the era of the man who initiated the growth of Penn State from a small farming college to what we see before us today. We all know what the man has done for our school, and I’m not talking about winning football games. The public memorial for Joseph Vincent Paterno will be held on Thursday at 2 pm in the Bryce Jordan Center. Afternoon classes should be canceled so students can honor and appreciate Coach Paterno with the rest of the Penn State family.
The first word to describe the life of Joe Paterno under his name at his statue outside Beaver Stadium is not "Coach". Certainly Joe would have been opposed to that. No -- the first word is "Educator", forever emblazoned in bronze for generations to see. And rightfully so.
Has attending a funeral ever before contained feelings of relief and good fortune? Yesterday morning, thousands of us sat anxiously at our computers watching the seconds bleed away towards 10:00 a.m., when tickets would become available for perhaps the most significant event to occur on Penn State's campus in our time, or anyone's time, here. Though the process may have been practical, it still felt wrong.