Being a Pennsylvania native, I have carefully followed the unfolding scandal at Penn State. Several things have really bothered me as I watch the news coverage and videos. What is predominantly on my mind is the failure to consider the safety and welfare of these children that were abused at the hands of Mr. Sandusky while Penn State administrators and coaches knew about it and did nothing.
I've taken the time to read the twenty plus pages of the grand jury indictment. If you haven't read it, you should. You can find it here. I am appalled at the number of victims already uncovered, with the hint that there may well be more. Perhaps the most disturbing fact is that McQueary, then a graduate assistant at Penn State, witnessed a rape of a ten year old boy in the locker room shower of the football facility. Not only did this 27 year old do nothing to stop what was happening, he apparently had to call his dad to ask what to do next. Really? At 27, being a teacher and a mom, I am confident that I would have intervened, even if I needed a baseball bat, and I also would have called the police—that night.
Joe testified to the following in the grand jury testimony:
Joseph V. Paterno testified to receiving the graduate assistant’s report at his home on Saturday morning. Paterno testified that the graduate assistant was very upset. Paterno called Tim Curley (“Curley”), Penn State Athletic Director and Paterno’s immediate superior, to his home the very next day, a Sunday, and reported to him that the graduate assistant had seen Jerry Sandusky in the Lasch Building showers fondling or doing something of a sexual nature to a young boy.”
Something of a sexual nature? McQueary testified that he reported what he had seen to Paterno. Read the document to see exactly what McQueary saw. Here’s my next big question. Even if you only heard the words “sexual nature” and “young boy,” wouldn’t that be enough for you to immediately call your superior, not wait a day? And speaking of his superior, am I the only one who is a bit shocked that Joe had enough clout to make his superior come to him, not the other way around? I know I probably shouldn’t be shocked, but I have been out of Pennsylvania for over thirty years.
It was wrong and both of these men knew it was wrong. Yes, Joe notified the proper university officials, but did he ever ask a question about what they did about it. He apparently did not, because several years later, Mr. Sandusky was still recruiting for Penn State. In fact, reports indicate that Mr. Sandusky went on recruiting visits as recently as this past spring, during the grand jury investigation.
Another disturbing fact is that reports of sexual abuse surfaced long before this report by McQueary. According to MSNBC: “ … in 1998, Sandusky was investigated after he was accused of "behaving in a sexually inappropriate manner" with a boy in a shower at the football team's facilities, the grand jury said. The report said an attorney for Second Mile who was also university counsel, Wendell Courtney, was aware of the allegations.” The entire article can be found here. He was observed again in 2000, in the showers of a Penn State facility by a janitor. The janitor tells his immediate superior who advises him to file a report, but since the janitor was a temporary employee, it doesn’t get done. So, 2002 was not the first time that Penn State facilities were used by Mr. Sandusky to abuse young boys, nor was it the first time he was observed or investigated.
Sandusky is arrested on November 5, 2011. Joe makes a statement on Sunday, November 6, 2011, released by his son Scott in which he states: "If this is true we were all fooled ... we grieve for the victims and their families. They are in our prayers." Joe goes on to defend his actions in going to administrators and not following up. On Wednesday, the day after his press conference was cancelled, Paterno announces his retirement effective at the end of the season with this pre-emptive warning to the board. "At this moment the board of trustees should not spend a single minute discussing my status. They have far more important matters to address." (Atlanta Journal) Wednesday evening Joe Paterno is relieved of his position as head coach of the Penn State football program.
What occurs following this is what disturbs and grieves me most. The outrage displayed by the students, alumni and fans of Penn State for the firing of the legendary Paterno, far overshadows anyone’s grief for what has happened to the victims in this scandal. How and why do you side with a man who covered up the acts of a depraved person? The same man who was, until this past week, suggesting they allegations may not be true. Joe, you have at least one eye-witness on your staff and quite probably there are more who were afraid to speak up. Angry mobs overturning a mobile news van, blaming the media for Joe’s dismissal are the scenes displayed across the country and world-wide. When one Penn State grad stands outside the stadium bearing two signs that say, “Put abused kids first,” and Don’t be fooled, they all knew. Tom Bradley, everyone must go.” He is ridiculed, cursed, slapped, showered with beer and over the course of an hour, only one person stopped to agree with the man. (Washington Times article) While the fans inside the stadium seemed reticent and sad, outside the stadium people were still loudly protesting the firing of JoePA. I’ve heard of mob mentality before, even seen it first hand at anti Vietnam rallies while a college student, but I have never witnessed people so concerned with the future of a football program and the 60 year career of an 85 year old man who had clearly not done enough to protect these young victims. Several former players have been heard defending Coach Paterno's actions, saying he did what he had to do. Maybe as suggested in Micah 6:8, he should have done more.I sincerely hope that the board continues to clean house at Penn State. They did the right thing for the student body and the university. Not until the house is clean, can this football program move forward with the pride of Nittany Lions.
