I will not go into much detail as it is all over the news, but there is a child sexual abuse scandal unfolding at Penn State involving a former assistant coach who worked under Joe Paterno. Apparently at least one of the alleged incidences happened in the team locker room and Paterno was aware of it. It also seems the President of the University, Graham Spanier was also aware, and a cover up ensued.
Paterno had announced that he would retire at the end of the season and there is one more game to go. The university trustees unanimously voted to fire both men for the good of Penn State University. The news described a “riot” last night when it was announced Paterno was fired. I will give you that Paterno is an institution and much beloved by the student body. He has been there forever and ever, amen.
College football has gotten out of hand. The original intent was for students to have a source of extra-circular activity and some friendly intercollegiate rivalry. It has long since moved away from that model. At institutions such as Penn State it is big business with coaches making multi-million dollar salaries. In reality, collegiate football is just the minor league for professional football. In my universe this is wrong on so many levels.
The student demonstrations at Penn State indicate to me that those students thought football more important than failure to report child abuse. I will give you that the chant was for Paterno be allowed to coach the last game of the season. However, the fact that they were demonstrating against the firing of the football coach and not the university president makes me believe that they also think football is more important than academics.
University should be about learning, not semi-professional sports. This is just another case of wrong priorities and a system corrupted by money.
The assistant coach that witness the incidence, Mike McQueary, has been suspended with pay and was not at the last game of the season for Penn State. The reason…The administration felt it would be disruptive as he was receiving multiple death threats. I am going to go out on a limb here and hazard a guess. The death threats were not for failing to intervene, but for blowing the whistle. Another wonderful example of our misplaced priorities.
Sigh.