Last night, students of this university exploited the recently uncovered rape of 20 boys as an opportunity to chant “USA! USA! USA!” on Beaver Avenue. These were not protesters, they were not patriots—they were jackasses.
The Board of Trustees has betrayed us all, and in an apparent effort to save the image of Penn State, has only tarnished it further. They're only interested in saving themselves.
They say that every hero has one single moment in their life that defines them.
For Joe Paterno, a man with 2-national championships and 409 career wins, that moment may have come outside a small ranch house at the end of McKee Street instead of on the football field.
Penn State president Graham Spanier has been quiet since his statement on Saturday as the university remains in desperate need of leadership on the administrative level. Everyone is waiting for another statement, but Spanier has yet to deliver.
It was bound to happen eventually, but it was not supposed to end like this. According to this New York Times article that cites two anonymous sources, the Board of Trustees has already begun discussion on how to approach Joe Paterno's departure. At the moment, there is no precise timing set in stone with the article speculating that it could happen within days or weeks, but something appears to be imminent.
Penn State and Jerry Sandusky. For the foreseeable future, those two names will go hand in hand. The Sandusky story will lead every Penn State football game, questions about Joe Paterno's involvement will dominate every television broadcast, and this football season will forever be remembered for what happened off the field.
The biggest questions for the Penn State football team this week will be about distractions. Will the team be able to ignore the scandal? Should they ignore it? Will it be possible to focus wholly on the Nebraska game on Saturday when Paterno and Mike McQueary are directly involved with the situation?
I think the answers to all those questions is "yes."