Penn State University should take down the Paterno statue.
Louis Freeh’s 267-page report into the Sandusky child sex abuse case is a terrible indictment of the culture of Penn State Football since 1998. The University President, Vice President, Athletic Director, and football Head Coach Paterno never went to authorities with their knowledge of what Sandusky was doing to kids.
That makes them people of low moral character.
They allowed little boys to be raped.
They knew Sandusky was raping little boys, and did nothing to stop it.
They didn’t stop it because of how it “might reflect on the football program.”
Joe Paterno allowed little boys to be raped.
Matt Millen, a man who played football at Penn State, described Joe Paterno as a “man of character” when he stated his disagreement with taking down the Paterno statue. My wife’s rebuttal was better than I could have ever delivered:
“ A man of character would not have allowed little boys to be raped for twelve years. What kind of man does it take to hide something like that because he is scared of what would happen to his football team? A horrible man.”
My wife is right.
You leave it up, so when every student, visitor and employee walks past that statute they are reminded of the totality of the man and his legacy. taking it down only serves to mask the truth. This is part of thier history and the need to remember what happens when you allow someone to hold so much control
This is the lesson of Ozymandias
My daughter read the entire report and told me that several times she had to stop because the details sickened her. She’s going to be a social worker and knows that she’s going to run into situations like this, so reading this is educational for her, even if it’s not particularly pleasant.
She told me that Paterno knew all along what was going on and chose not to say anything or do anything to stop it.
The ruination of the lives of the victims are far more important than winning a stupid football games. PSU will probably have to disband their program to pay for the damages from the law suits. That will be Paterno’s legacy.