Former Penn State Coach Arrested

[SOPi_Jawbreaker]

I, like many Penn Staters, have spent the last few days trying to make sense of all this...trying to figure out what to think and how to feel about it all. I've wanted to comment on this, but it's taken me a few days to sort out how I feel and what I want to say.

My initial gut reaction, before reading all the news reports, was to defend JoePa. I do believe he is being villianized the most since he is the most famous and most visible and most symbolic of Penn State. The #1 villian should be Sandusky. #2 should be Schultz and Curley for failing in their job duties to report the incident to the police.

That being said, while JoePa may have done his legal duty, I feel that he failed in his moral duty. He is a man that has always been about Integrity, Honor, and doing the right thing even if it's not the popular thing. His life's work has been about teaching, guiding, and molding young men into outstanding, good men. For him to just report the incident to his higher ups and wash his hands of it and consider his duty done is deeply troubling to me.

I certainly don't know all the details, but I feel like a man of integrity and honor would have kept pursuing the matter if he saw Sandusky still roaming around free around campus all those years later. I know that people have said that abuse cases can be slow-moving and that the admiinstration may have told JoePa that they were taking care of it, but I feel a man of integrity and honor would not have just taken their word and would have been much more insistent and persistent in making sure that action was being taken and that Sandusky was being brought to justice. Yes, JoePa fulfilled his legal obligations as a coach. But I feel he failed in his moral obligations, especially as a leader and role model to young men and especially as he has built up such a stellar reputation and was always so on the up-and-up.

I read the grand jury indictment and it is infuriating. There were so many instances in which this monster could have been stopped, but so many people dropped the ball. Sandusky was questioned by police in regards to the shower incident in 1998 and the police basically told him not to shower with boys anymore. If he was Joe Nobody Creepy McCreeperson, would the police have just wagged their fingers and clucked their tongues "tsk tsk, no, no, no, no more showering with little boys"? (Side note: I feel there is NO REASON WHATSOEVER for an adult to be showering with a child. I remember back in middle school and high school mid-to-late-90's that our PE teachers weren't even allowed to go into the locker rooms when we were changing before and after gym class).

There was another incident where, if I'm remembering the indictment correctly, Sandusky was caught by a high school coach while he was laying on top of a boy in a high school weight room. The coach felt it was inappropriate enough to take it to the principal who banned Sandusky from the high school and from having access to kids at the high school. (Prior to that, he had free reign to use the gym facilities and to call Second Mile boys out of class to meet with him alone)

There have been comparisons between the Penn State scandal and the Catholic priest scandals, and I feel the comparison is apt. The high school knew something wrong and inappropriate had occurred and as far as I know they did not report it to the police. Instead, they just banned Sandusky from their school. Very much like how Catholic churches were transferring pedofile priests to other churches "now it's not my problem anymore, it's someone else's problem". Penn State did the same thing in regards to the 2002 incident. Their solution was to tell Sandusky he couldn't bring boys onto campus anymore and to call Second Mile. That was it!! And Sandusky was still going onto campus as recently as last week. Even if, as Schultz and Curley and Paterno and Spanier allege, they did not know that is was rape/sodomy, they did know that something inappropriate had happened. Even if they thought it was just showering or touching, they should have done more. They should have reported it to the police. If Sandusky had been a janitor that got caught in a shower with a young boy and not a prominent/respected/well-regarded coach/pillar of the community, would Penn State's reaction have just been "give us your keys janitor Sandusky and stay off our campus"?

I feel so terribly for the poor boy. He saw McQueary come into the locker room showers and probably thought someone had come to rescue him. Instead McQueary turns and walks away. I would like to think that, in that situation, I would have punched out the adult and gotten the kid out of that situation. But I don't know how I react. Maybe I too would have been so shocked/horrified/upset that I would be unable to act.

Finally, I know that Penn State can overcome and recover from this. But it is going to take time and it is going to require cleaning house. I know that there are students shouting for JoePa to stay, but I just don't see any way for that to happen. Everyone involved has been tarnished and sullied by this. We need a clean slate. And I believe that also includes Spanier stepping down. I am angry and saddened and disappointed that something this vile could happen at my beloved alma mater. The actions (or rather inactions) of a few men do not define Penn State. There are thousands upon thousands of good people at Penn State. I hope justice prevails and I hope the victims will begin to find closure and begin to heal.