The Joe Paterno legacy came to an end this week when Penn State’s board of trustees fired him, the president, and a slew of other university officials. The reason was the accusation that Paterno didn’t contact the authorities when he found out about the sexual abuse going on in his locker rooms and showers. The perpetrator was the longtime assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.
The accused (Sandusky) has yet to go to trial; however the evidence against him is almost overwhelming. He still denies the claims made against him. The issue is whether or not Joe Paterno should have been fired. A lot of people believe that he should be fired. He was notified about 15 years ago that Sandusky was harassing little boys, he in turn notified the chairman of the athletic board. I personally believe that this was ethical enough for a 69 year old man to do. The chairman of the athletic board could have notified the authorities just as well.
Some people have even gone on to say that Penn State deserved this because they let Joe Paterno do whatever he wanted. That he was a god. They have evened coined the phrase “It’s not Penn State, its Paterno State.” This is a cowardly shot a championship coach. Nobody knows what they are going to do in a situation like that unless they have been in a situation like that. God forbid. Not only that, how are you going to sit there and pin this on an entire University? This is one man’s sick and demented actions. He alone should be punished. There are probably a hundred people that could have called the police or done something other than what they did…..nothing.
I would put the test to anyone that has had any dealing with sexual misconduct. It is a very touchy subject. I think that if anything this should be a learning point for all of America. If you think something is suspicious report it. Sometimes it is better to be wrong about nothing, than do nothing about a wrong.
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First off, I would like to say that I agree with your overall message and warning to your readers. Crude acts such as this should not be tolerated or accepted on any level and should be handled immediately in the proper manner. I believe that everyone involved handled the situation poorly and should be punished as the university sees necessary. Why the involved parties didn’t report these incidents to the authorities? That question still lingers, but any bogus answer should be ruled as completely unjustified and unfair to the victim(s). There should have been no question, based on the severity of the accusations that the local police should have been the first number dialed. With that being said, I have the upmost respect for Joe Paterno as a football coach and his achievements on the field, but he and his colleagues failed miserably as leaders. Anyone designated to a leadership role and/or public icon position must exceed expectations and live up to their title, otherwise they need to find a new line of work.
ReplyDeleteThis issue was a great choice seeing how it is one of the hottest topics in the news today and there is a great amount of disagreement regarding the repercussions felt by the university’s so called leaders. I think you did a great job of sticking to the heart of the topic by not irrationally ranting in order to prove your stance. Lastly, I like how you provided a strong opening paragraph explaining the issue to the ill informed reader(s). I enjoyed it!