The Penn State Scandal From a Penn State Student: Joe Paterno's innocence

Scapegoat: a goat upon whose head are symbolically placed the sins of the people after which he is sent into the wilderness in the biblical ceremony for Yom Kippur 
one that bears the blame for others
one that is the object of irrational hostility (Merriam Webster Dictionary)
Example: Joe Paterno


There are only two division I schools that have won a national championship and have never committed an NCAA violation, Penn State and BYU. Coming into this season, The Penn State football program was clean as could be. Last season Joe Paterno earned his 400th career win. Joe Paterno has been at Penn State since 1950, and the head coach since 1966. Paterno established what became known as "the grand experiment", the perfect combination of football, academics, and success with honor. The grand experiment was tremendously successful; Penn State graduates 80% of its players (#1 FBS school in the nation), won two national championships, went undefeated five times, all while never committing an NCAA violation. The grand experiment was a great success and provided a model that all schools should follow. Penn State had the most honorable football program in the Nation until one fateful day in November 2011.


One week after Paterno became the winning-est coach in NCAA D-I football history with his 409th career win, I awoke to a text message from my brother that read "your school's athletic program is in shambles". Confused, I replied "Our women's volleyball and men's wrestling teams are defending national champions, our football coach just broke the wins record, and out team has off this week how are we in shambles?" I was expecting to hear that one of our teams lost his Alma Mater, The University of Delaware. Instead he just replied "go to any sports website." I went to ESPN.com and there it was, the story that would rock Penn State to the core "Penn State involved in sex scandal."


Soon after, I read the Grand Jury Report. It was one of the most vile, disgusting things I have ever read. The alleged acts of Sandusky are some of the most despicable acts a man can do, second only to murder. The question everyone wanted answered was who knew what and when did they know it. Everyone began to focus on "Victim 2" in the GJR. Mike Mcqueary witnessed something take place between Sandusky and a young boy in a shower in the locker room. What this act was is unknown by the masses and Mcqueary has changed his story many times in these past few weeks, he also had made claims of trying to stop it and calling the police, both of which have been proven false. The GJR goes on to say that he Mcqueary told his father later that night and told Paterno the next day. The GJR then says that Paterno proceeded it to report it to Tim Curley, the athletic director, and Gary Schultz, the VP and head of campus police. Mcqueary was then called into a meeting with Curley and Schultz, Paterno was not present for this meeting. In the GJR, this is where the paper trail ends. 


The rumor that has been making the rounds the last couple of weeks is that shortly after this Paterno went to Schultz to ask what happened with Sandusky. Paterno was told that a full investigation was under way. A few months later he is rumored to have followed up again only to be told that charges were not going to be pursued. Paterno was reportedly outraged and wanted to ban Sandusky from campus but was told he did not have that authority so instead he banned from football facilities, which he had the authority to do. This is just a rumor and whether or not it is true still remains to be seen, one piece of evidence supporting it is that around this time, Sandusky was banned from football facilities. If this rumor is true Paterno's name is undoubtedly clear. The reason something like this would not appear in the GJR is that it is unrelated to the indictments of Sandusky, Schultz, and Curley. However, even if this rumor turns out to be false Joe Paterno was still wrongly fired.


The Penn State Board of Trustees made the descion to fire Paterno with very little information, and later admitted it was due to intense media pressure. The media, in particular ESPN made Paterno the focus of all their attention rather than the actual heinous acts of Sandusky. ESPN kept saying that Paterno "fulfilled his legal duty but failed his moral duty." According to ESPN, moral duty would presumably mean taking matters into his own hands. What is known from the GJR is that Paterno reported to the head of the campus police. Contrary to popular belief, Penn State police have real guns, real badges and have the same authority as any other police department; they posses the ability to make arrests and carry out investigations. Paterno fulfilled  his duty by delivering the information that he received from Mcqueary (what that information was, is still not known) to Gary Schultz, the head of the campus police department. How this is not fulfilling his moral responsibility, is beyond me. Joe Paterno should not take the blame for the failure of his superiors. It is not Joe Paterno's responsibility to bring in criminals himself, it is his responsibility to report it to the proper authority, which he did. Joe Paterno was made a scapegoat by the board of trustees as an attempt to appease the mass media frenzy.