The Penn State University board of trustees did the right thing by firing both university President Graham Spanier and head football coach Joe Paterno for their culpability in the child sex abuse scandal rocking the school and the nation. Clearly, though, the board’s work is just beginning.
The riotous support of a mob of Penn State students for the legendary coach shows a disconnect as disturbing as those found in the grand jury report that listed eight allegations of sexual abuse of children by longtime defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky.
The student outpouring brought out police, riot gear and tear gas, and summoned another distasteful reminder of a culture that seems to value sports and notches in the “win” column above all else — including protecting young children, whose ages are not far removed from that of the clamorous students, and answering life’s moral and legal imperatives.
Maybe that culture has infected many of the young people who attend Penn State, for the same document outlines, in outrageous detail, criminal and moral disconnects by the school’s so-called leaders, lapses that strike the heart and sicken the soul.
Responsible adults at Penn State — including top administrators and Mr. Paterno — knew of eyewitness accounts of Mr. Sandusky molesting children up to 13 years ago, yet they did nothing to stop him or hold him accountable.
Mr. Paterno, long lauded for his commitment to integrity, did “what I was supposed to do,” as he said. That meant he notified the school’s athletics director of one such eyewitness account, described in the report as an on-campus rape of a child by Mr. Sandusky. The man revered by students as JoePa did not call the police for that child, but he did go on to amass a historic record of football wins.
Mr. Spanier and Mr. Paterno, damaged goods, have been jettisoned by the university. But that’s not enough.
If the school is to heal and grow from an apparently hideous dereliction of duty, the board must insist on a thorough, pitiless examination of what enabled that dereliction to happen in the first place and to continue unchallenged. The university must also insist that these perspectives become part of the education that Penn State offers its students, as a sizable number of them appear to be confused about whom the law, and empathy, identify as the victims in these circumstances.
It’s time Happy Valley learned the whole truth.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Heads Roll
This from C-J:
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
9 comments:
I grieve for the victims of the former Penn State assistant coach. These victims were brave to come forward and report their abuser. At the same time, I am pleased President Spanier and Coach Paterno were dismissed and will no longer work for Penn State University. They were part of the problem.
That being said, it is important that we recognize that abuse takes many forms: mental and physical. Abuse certainly can involve sexual crimes or it can be subtle --- the abuse that comes from the simple threat of knowing once can lose one's job for speaking up or questioning a well-loved community member who cloaks himself in the style of a reformer. Abusers can be coaches, parents, or superintendents. They try to convince us they are someone they are not, then they begin their reign of terror. They target the vulnerable, but they need a way to cover their deeds, whether it be a football camp for special kids or a mantra like "It's about Kids." These abusers crave power. I'm pleased the abuse at Penn State has stopped, but I continue to grieve for the victims and, as a FCPS employee, I continue to remember that abuse takes many forms.
I have enormous respect for the Courier Journal. As a Lexington resident, I lose respect for the moral courage of our newspaper daily, especially when it comes to its coverage of abuse of the bus drivers in our local school system. The Herald Leader is engaged in a conspiracy of silence.
To allow and make the comparison of abuse of the Penn State victims and try to equate that to anything a teacher has to deal with in Fayette County is insane. Richard, you absolutely have stooped to an all time low.
November 12, 2011 3:46 PM: I made no such comparisons.
I'm happy to take responsibility for what I say. But in this case, the original piece comes from the Courier-Journal.
As for "allow[ing]" comparisons: readers are free to express their own opinions - rightly or wrongly - as you have.
To 3:46 PM
Once again: abuse of power can take many forms, and the attempt to silence those who speak up in a blog cannot be permitted in a society that claims to believe in the First Amendment. Richard Day did not make any such comparison to the events in FCPS and Penn State. The author of the post did.
The abuse the bus drivers faced in Fayette County Schools, the abuse lawyer Brenda Allen faced when she spoke up, the abuse that a teacher of the year faced when she tried to discipline a student at Cardinal Valley, and the character assasination of formner principal Peggy Petrelli--- all of this occurred directly and indirectly under the watch of trusted community member, a self-styled reformer.
While not comparable to the child molestation victims at Penn State, the abuse faced by the above victims was abuse nonetheless.
Abuse takes many forms.
To 3:46 PM
Once again: abuse of power can take many forms, and the attempt to silence those who speak up in a blog cannot be permitted in a society that claims to believe in the First Amendment. Richard Day did not make any such comparison to the events in FCPS and Penn State. The author of the post did.
The abuse the bus drivers faced in Fayette County Schools, the abuse lawyer Brenda Allen faced when she spoke up, the abuse that a teacher of the year faced when she tried to discipline a student at Cardinal Valley, and the character assasination of formner principal Peggy Petrelli--- all of this occurred directly and indirectly under the watch of trusted community member, a self-styled reformer.
While not comparable to the child molestation victims at Penn State, the abuse faced by the above victims was abuse nonetheless.
Abuse takes many forms.
I think that what scares me is that hugh organizations like global churches and universities have documented that not only have these atrocities occurred but that those institutions' leadership, tried to ignore or even cover up the transgression. So if that can happen in those highly visiable and multilayered organizations, shouldn't it concern us all that it could be occuring in small, isolated schools full of children across our state and country?
I imagine the temptation to cover up bad acts (especially those that run counter to an organization's public narrative) is a problem common to virtually all human organizations. Churches, schools, universities, non-profits, businesses, politicians including presidents, volunteer groups: the list is long and distinguished.
The reason there is a higher value placed on protecting children is that they are relatively powerless and need the protection of a community of caring adults. I would agree that it ought to concern us all.
I am happy to hear that Coach Paterno and President Spanier have been removed from Penn State University, but am disgusted to hear that this situation was allowed to go on for so long. It is unacceptable for schools of any level to allow such a perversion of power or an abuse of students. The fact that there were eye witness accounts from around 13 years ago is disturbing to me. It seems as though the President of the university cared more about winning football games than he did about the well-being of his students. What is our world coming to if such a thing is allowed to go on in the sole hope that a football team would be more successful?
Post a Comment