Urging Penn State students to show their TRUE colors about the scandal

Parents Forum
1

<p>Penn State is a very special place where people co-exist with love and respect. It is time to put away the riot mentality and come together to show compassion and love for the boys who were molested. </p>

<p>Show the media what makes PSU one of the best universities in the country. Show the media what it is that PSU stands for and that the student body cares most about the boys who were harmed forever.</p>

<p>Wear your colors, have a moment of silence at the game Saturday, and have a candle-lighting vigil that takes over the campus on Friday night to show where the hearts of Penn State students really are!</p>

2

<p>You want to impress people with how outraged Penn State students are about the scandal?</p>

<p>Here’s an idea: stay home Saturday. An empty stadium will speak volumes.</p>

3

<p>I think it is pathetic that these students care more about a sports coach than the victims. It is an unfortunate situation and whoever knew or had suspicion about the assistant coach should have reported it to the police - no excuse. He made a poor decision and these are the consequences. Just my opinion.</p>

4

<p>[Support</a> RAINN and the #ProudPSUforRAINN Campaign - Black Shoe Diaries](<a href=“http://www.blackshoediaries.com/2011/11/10/2551635/sandusky-paterno-scandal-RAINN-victims-support]Support”>Support RAINN and the #ProudPSUforRAINN Campaign - Black Shoe Diaries)</p>

<p>You can also join the State College/PSU community in raising $500,000 for abuse victims – that’s a symbolic $1 for every PSU alum in the country, I am told.</p>

5

<p>

</p>

<p>Absolutely. </p>

<p>But that will never happen.</p>

6

<p>Maybe I’m a softie, but I’d give these kids - and many are still kids - the benefit of the doubt. They’re in shock. They’re in denial. Their little bubble burst and yes, it’s an ugly world outside. It’s something we as adults know - but they’ve just discovered it. The compassionate adult would let them express their grief, and then slowly let them understand why their beloved coach simply had to be severed from their school. So yea, they rioted. Lets hope they got the anger out of their system. Now it’s time to talk to them.</p>

7

<p>I know it will never happen. They’ll do something cheap and easy like a moment of silence and then proclaim themselves purified.</p>

8

<p>I agree with katliamom. Give these kids a chance. They are dealing with alot. The adults posting seem to be lucky enough to not have their kids involved with this personally. I would hope no parent would wish this kind of turmoil on any student.</p>

9

<p>Yes. Big learning moment for them I hope. When the sun came up this morning, I think a lot of them probably felt a bit ashamed, especially when they see themselves on youtube. I hope their professors also took time out of their classes to talk about what’s going on.</p>

10

<p>Some of you are assuming that Penn State students and alumni see things the same way that you do or that there is a consensus about why they were in the streets of Happy Valley.</p>

<p>It doesn’t mean that students support child abuse just because they don’t think firing Joe Paterno (by telephone after 40+ years) was the right level of discipline. He was not the molester. All he had to go on was hearsay that it’s acknowledged he immediately passed along for investigation and referral to authorities by the school, including the chief of the Penn State police. He may have believed there was a confidential investigation by the police as a result of this information. If you’ve ever worked on confidential investigations, you’d know that the results are more often not shared. </p>

<p>If students don’t do what you suggest, it doesn’t mean that the students believe that the entire football program or school has a culture that lets an evil man engage in this behavior. How many people did he work with, besides Joe Patero – students, his charities, and his co-workers? How many other people “should have known” that aren’t being taken to Hanging Hill this week?</p>

<p>This is the same type of guilt by association that torments parents of children who commit crimes, roommates of the Virginia Tech shooter, jurors in an unpopular case, etc. You’re fortunate if you get through life without ever being in the wrong place at the wrong time or knowing the wrong person, and if you’ve missed being branded with guilt by association. </p>

<p>Joe Paterno and the football program at PSU are institutions not because football takes precedence over academics, but because they have earned love and respect. Look at Joe Paterno’s record as a man, including his leadership of thousands of young men, graduation rate, integration in the 60s, lack of recruiting violations, millions of dollars he has donated to the school, the library and other programs, etc. and tell me that he’s the kind of man who would have protected his football program over children. </p>

<p>He doesn’t live in a big house…he lives in the original home he and his wife purchased when football coaches were not stars. He walked the campus and talked to kids for decades. He has disciplined his players for 40+ years for violations of the law or team rules, and is not a man who sweeps things under the rug. He’s not one of those coaches known for little or big violations of recruiting rules. He’s always been a standup guy. It’s completely improbable to anyone who knows anything about him, that this outstanding man would ever have knowingly protected a child molester within the football program. </p>

<p>We haven’t heard from the defense yet, so Hanging Hill is certainly premature. Last time I checked we’re in America.</p>

<p>Again, just because the students aren’t marching against child abuse, doesn’t mean they support it. Just because students go to a football game, doesn’t mean that students support child abuse. Geez.</p>

11

<p>It is because Paterno was famous for following up with his players, talking to professors to make sure that they weren’t struggling, taking a personal interest in those close to him, etc. that it feels like he didn’t do enough as a leader to get to the bottom of this. Was he legally responsible? No. Does it seem out of character from the Paterno legend? Yes. I am sad to see him go, but this case sickens me to the core. I don’t know if firing him was the right thing, but the rioting makes it worse.</p>

12

<p>These are not kids, they are adults, they can vote, they can go to war, they can get married, they can hold jobs. These are not ten year olds like the victims, they are grownups. by going to the game they show that football trumps all. Instead hold a walk for abuse victims. Sitting and chearing would be sick</p>

<p>And no he did the bare minimum and if he didn’t have all the details it’s because he choice to bury it. His turf his responsibility. And obviousllynhis legend didn’t match up with the real core of the man</p>

13

<p>Sorry but the whole situation is despicable. I love my big ten football team but not so much that I would riot in the streets about a coach, beloved or not, that turned a blind eye to a 10 year old getting raped in the shower. I have always thought Paterno was a great person and I think this entire situation is beyond sad but he made a very poor decision. What I find more despicable though is that Mcqueary, the guy who witnessed the rape is COACHING THE FOOTBALL GAME on Saturday!! He should have been fired before Paterno…but then again, that might compromise Penn States season so we can’t have that. That is horrible.</p>

<p>I feel bad for the kids at Penn State…it isn’t their fault but the initial reaction is misguided and is indicative of our culture that seems to value sports over humanity.</p>

14

<p>@ Neonzeus : You will try in vain to persuade most of the posters here, esp annasdad and seahorse, that there is any good in anyone in the 16801 zipcode and we are all guilty by association. There is a moment of silence planned, and a candlelight vigil which they are expecting thousands at , and I am sure those are not sufficient to satisfy. This attitude is exasperating. Why stop at missing a football game? Why not insist that all parents withdraw their children from PSU in protest? And what, exactly, would that change? </p>

<p>I found your post eloquent and reasonable, something lacking in most of the hyperbolic rhetoric out there. Thanks for being a ray of sunshine</p>

15

<p>I hope there isn’t an empty stadium on Saturday. My daughter’s friend is in the marching band, and works very hard, spends many hours practicing, and it would be a shame if there was no crowd to cheer on the band. Same with the players. This is the last home game, the last game for seniors, would be terrible for them to miss having their last home game in front of a crowd. Don’t punish the kids. </p>

<p>Joe Paterno has hired a lawyer.</p>

16

<p>Saturday is senior day. So, the seniors who have worked hard for 4 years for their school should be denied the chance to play because an old assistant coach , who has never even been THEIR coach, is an alleged pervert. What is that going to solve?</p>

17

<p>neonzeus… i also am not sure why the rush to fire paterno…from what i read he himself did not molest anyone and the way in which he reported the molester seems to be unclear? maybe a suspension while this is all under investigation</p>

18

<p>Sevmom, I totally understand what you are saying and agree. However, there will be someone there who witnessed a 10 year old getting raped in 2002 and is somehow still employed by Penn State. I don’t understand that.</p>

19

<p>

</p>

<p>A 10 year old got raped and people suggested skipping a football game, but you think it is unfair solely because the marching band has been practicing? /:? That right there is what is unfortunately giving the population of PSU a bad reputation right now. Giving superficial reasons to attend a sports game or support a faculty member. </p>

<p>I enjoyed @NeonZues’s post. At least it contained logic and reason. But saying the marching band and players need people cheering them on doesn’t just shine a bad light on your priorities and the priorities of the marching band members/players, but also on the PSU community as a whole.</p>

20

<p>A letter from an OSU fan to Penn State fans, printed in “The School Philly” follows. Remember that the rioters do not represent the majority of students or residents of State College. My D is a Jr. there and people she knows are as shocked and saddened by these events as most posters here are:</p>

<p>“Dear Penn State Fan/Alumni,
You don’t know me. Sure, we may have seen each other once or twice at a road game or a tailgate, but aside from a passing glance, and an occasional hello, we are strangers. Heck, we’re actually more like enemies. After all, I’m a fan of The Ohio State University – tOSU, or O$U as you might call it. Since you guys joined the Big Ten Conference in the early-90s we’ve built a pretty spirited rivalry, with more than its fair share of heroics, heartbreaks, and triumphs. To be sure, we’ve both crossed the line on occasion. Urine balloon barbs and incontinence jabs have clouded the fact that we’re actually not that different, you and I. We’re both proud disciples of two of the most storied programs in all of college football, and although you’d be hard pressed to get a Buckeye fan to say it to your face, we respect the hell out of you and your traditions.
I’m writing because I know how you feel right now. The actions of your beloved president, coach, and athletic director have shaken your program to the core and have threatened your own faith in humanity. You’re shocked that someone you idolized could have done something so stupid, so selfish, so infuriatingly contradictory to the values they spent decades promoting. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not comparing what happened in Columbus to what’s alleged to have happened in State College. Only Bob Ryan is stupid enough to draw that parallel. What I am saying is that I know what it feels like to have a personal hero disgraced. To watch someone you admire, who did more good in a week than most of us do in our entire lifetimes get publicly shamed, and forced out under a cover of darkness. To see a legacy irrevocably stained and treasured accomplishments tarnished. To have one person’s mistakes drag your university’s good name through the mud. To be labeled an accomplice to the crime by virtue of your fan allegiances.
As I was driving to work this morning, I heard one of your own call in to The Herd and explain that he didn’t know how he was going to unapologetically put on the Blue and White and sing “Fight On, State” this Saturday. He’s not the only one to express that sentiment. Perhaps you’re feeling a little this way.
This is what I want to say to you. You are not Joe Paterno. You are not Tim Curley. You are not Gary Schultz. You are not Graham Spanier, and you are sure as hell not Jerry Sandusky. Their alleged sins are not your own. They may be the most recognizable faces of your beloved program, but they are not Penn State. They are not a 156 year old center of higher learning. They are not a century of football tradition. Their flaws cannot eclipse the innumerable scientific, artistic, and humanitarian contributions your university, and its 44,000 students and 570,000 living alumni have made and will continue to make to the world at large.
The spirit of a program, of a university, and of a state is so much bigger than any one person.
So do yourself a favor, and stop thinking about Joe Paterno. No amount of discussion can change what happened, and his bed is made for better or worse. Recognize that only time can tell how he will be remembered. (For what it’s worth, I hope beyond hope that the facts turn out favorably.) Say a prayer for the children, and on Saturday, put on your Silas Redd jersey, brave the cold, and cheer your ass off for your team.
Not because you support the coaches, because you support the men on the field. Not because you endorse the administration, because you believe in the University as a collective whole. Penn State University has always been (and will always be) about one thing and one thing only: making life better.
It’s not just a motto, it’s a mission. And you’re still a part of that.
Pray for the children. Cheer for the team. And in two weeks, make the drive to Columbus, so you can watch us bury your Big Ten title aspirations in person.
Sincerely,
A Buckeye Fan”</p>