Joe Paterno, Penn State and Morals

I waited a few days before writing about what has gone on at Penn State University because the first 2 attempts to write this post came across too angry. Â I am angry at Jerry Sandusky who has been accused of harming so many young children, I am angry at the former Penn State quarterback, and at the time a grad assistant who witnessed one of the alleged assaults but only went to Joe Paterno, I am angry at Joe Paterno for not reporting the assaults to the police, and finally the leadership, or lack there of, at Penn State to take these statements seriously.

What happened at Penn State is that they forgot that as leaders they should have done more than the bare minimum. Â Mike McQueary, was a quarterback at Penn State. Â He led 10 other men into battle each week in the Big Ten Conference, and when the games ended, he became a grad assistant coach. Â Why only tell Joe Paterno? Â If someone was robbing the PSU Bookstore would you tell coach or campus police? Â The athletic director and finance guy just sat on the news. Â And then there is Joe Pa, he did nothing. Â Sure he told the AD, but as the leader of 80+ student athletes, and dozens of coaches, he essentially did nothing. Â If Joe Paterno saw a person injured on the street, would he try to help? Â He has no morals, and was more interested in protecting his image, his university and his friend, Jerry Sandusky.

This pattern of protecting Penn State and the semi-pro status that the football team has is well documented. Â I encourage you to read an article by Chris Korman, a PSU grad, who talked about all the cover ups that have occurred at Penn State under Joe Pa.

My heart aches for the victims and how their lives have been impacted by this. Â In a community as small as Happy Valley, PA, I initially was shocked that no one had discovered this sooner, however, after reading Chris Korman’s article it became clearer. Â At Penn State University the only morals that leadership had when it came to their football program was money.