Penn State Students Rioting for the Wrong Reasons

It seems like just yesterday I was in college. It is hard to believe that I graduated more than 10 years ago.  It was a great time in life, when little was expected of you, your biggest concern was finals, and you could do just about anything and get away with it.  There is a time and place for everything, and that place is called college. 

However, when I see what is going on at Penn State, I am glad that I have grown up a bit.  I cannot help but worry that I would have been one of those rioting idiots, joining in the melee for all the wrong reasons.  I’d like to think I would be angry about the cover-ups, the lies, and the victims.  Not because of a football season, a silent coach, or a board of trustees who actually do what is right.  But I am getting ahead of myself. 

In case you live under a rock, it has been a rough time for Penn State as of late.  Former assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky, has allegedly raped eight children over a period of 15 years, and some of these rapes occurred on campus.  Many of the charges allege that the rapes occurred while Sandusky was an assistant coach for the legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno.  We are finding out that many people not only knew what was going on, but covered it up.  

Wednesday night, things got a little worse for Penn State when riots broke out.  When I first saw the pictures of what was going on, I thought that the students were getting together to protest the cover-up that allowed children to be preyed upon.  Standing up for the silent victims seemed like a very college-like thing to do.  I didn’t read the story, I just went to bed.  

It was only upon reading the rioting stories Thursday morning I found out they were not angry or upset that children were raped, that it happened on their campus, and it was covered up, but that they were angry that coach Joe Paterno was fired due to his contributions to cover-up the scandal.

In a statement made last weekend, Paterno spoke to the press and said, "If this is true, we were all fooled, along with scores of professionals trained in such things."  I guess I am confused as to how Paterno was fooled.  After all, he knew Sandusky was a child rapist.  He was told about it almost 10 years ago by someone who actually witnessed Sandusky raping a 10-year-old in the showers at the stadium.  

Paterno sat quiet, even though he knew that Sandusky was still around children as recently as a little over a year ago!  That’s right.  The coach knew that the (alleged) child rapist was still around children though his charity, The Second Mile, and did absolutely nothing except report it to the athletics director, Tim Curley, and then shut up about it.  Even after Curley was arrested for lying to a grand jury about the incident, he didn’t step up.  Here is what Coach Paterno did: he allowed Sandusky to continue to bring children into his stadium. 

Take a moment and let that sink in.  The coach had been told by an eye-witness that his former assistant coach, Sandusky, raped a child in the stadium, and then allowed him to continue to bring children into the stadium.  Oh, and the witness who told Panterno about the rape, his silence was rewarded with an assistant coaching position with Penn State. 

Once all these indictments were handed down and the public was made aware of what was going on, coach Paterno started to feel the heat and knew he screwed up royally.  After all, silence isn't always golden.  The Board of Trustees at Penn State gave him the opportunity to do the right thing and step down.  After all, how could the institution allow such a man to still be a leader for their school?  Instead, Paterno held a press conference and announcing he was going to stick around until the end of the season.  Hours later, the Board did the right thing and fired Paterno. That is when the riots started. 

When I read the statements from the students who were rioting, the overwhelming response for the reason for the mayhem was that they thought Paterno should be able to leave with some dignity.  Why?  Why should someone who did what he did get to call the shots as to when he gets to leave?  I’m seriously asking here, because I just don’t get it.  Most Human Resource manuals in the real world state that you would get fired for not reporting a co-worker who was stealing office supplies (though, to be fair, most do not have child rape provisions).

Also, the Board did give him the opportunity to step down gracefully. He chose to stick around a bit more.  My guess is that Paterno was king on that campus for so long he forgot that he wasn’t untouchable.  Paterno did not give Sandusky permission to attack children, but he sure as heck didn’t ensure there were repercussions either.  That is not a leader, that is not someone Penn State should waste another second associating with, and that is not someone that should have college students rioting in the streets on their behalf.

I guess I am out of touch with today’s college students.  While it seems like just yesterday I was there, I have to accept that I am growing up.  I have nothing in common with those students at Penn State.  No matter how much I loved watching the Cardinals win the series, I would never have cheered for Tony LaRussa had he done the things that Paterno did, much less take to the streets on his behalf.