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.
Recent Penn State alums Caity Rogowski and Ariel Abramowitz flexed their social media muscles to put a stop to those selling tickets to Joe Paterno's memorial service for profit on eBay. Rogowski and Abramowitz began to drive prices up on every ticket listing they could find while also reporting each listing in an effort to catch eBay's attention.
The Penn State community has been grieving the loss of Joe Paterno differently. Some students assembled on the snow-covered lawn of Old Main Sunday night with candles in hand. Some spoke a short prayer around the JoePa statue outside Beaver Stadium. One Penn State freshman, though, decided to pay homage to the late Joe Paterno with a rap song/Youtube video titled "Legends Never Die."