The loudest voices in this upcoming Board of Trustees election are those who are living in the past, driven primarily by an unhealthy thirst for vengeance. They refuse to acknowledge that the present poses new and distinct challenges, and that our Trustees are the ones who must lead this university through an uncertain future.
Courtney O'Bryan's death was and is, unmistakably, a tragedy. I think I speak for all of Penn State when I say how shocked and saddened we were to hear the dreadful news. But when I found out that THON had responded by mandating attendance at canning workshops, I wondered if the lesson her death taught us had actually been learned, or if the organization simply aimed to obfuscate the real risk.
The last stop on Rodney Erickson's three-city alumni town hall tour might well have been his best performance, as the Penn State President fielded questions from alumni on a variety of topics ranging from Joe Paterno's firing to how a professor can achieve emeritus status. The event, held Friday evening in Manhattan, featured a less robust attendance than either of Erickson's Pennsylvania appearances--in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia--but the 300 who made the trek to the Financial District and the Downtown Marriott on a bone-chillingly cold winter night came prepared to ask the right questions.
Yes, Penn State was "snubbed" by a handful of bowl selection committees. But the fact of the matter is, we're still playing in a post-New Year's bowl, against a Top 20 team, in a decent location. Dallas can't be all bad, if the NFL saw it suitable to host the Super Bowl just last year.
We knew this would be the next shoe to fall, and the only question was when--when the tide would turn from a criminal investigation into a wave of civil lawsuits against Penn State. The first was filed yesterday in Philadelphia, by a Minnesota lawyer, on behalf of a "John Doe" who was not among the eight alleged victims listed in the Grand Jury presentment.