PSU's Erickson thinks 'this is not a Penn State scandal.' Seriously.
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PSU's Erickson thinks 'this is not a Penn State scandal.' Seriously.
Attytood's coverage of the Penn State alumni "town hall" in King of Prussia:
There was no unruly throng flowing through the wide parking lots of King of Prussia last night, just a orderly single-file line of well-dressed Penn State alums filing into a carpeted hotel meeting room with a stage decked out in soothing flowers and tall potted plants. Despite an air of hostility toward a news media that one questioner accused of “McCarthyism,” there was never a thought of flipping over any of the news vans lined up on the outskirts of the Radisson Valley Forge.
Yet in kinder and gentler way, the more than 650 Penn State alumni who packed a so-called “town hall” meeting with already embattled new president Rodney Erickson were animated by the same basic instincts that caused some students to riot in the streets of State College two months earlier: Anger focused much more on the firing of football legend Joe Paterno than on the child-sex-abuse scandal and cover-up that provoked it, and shock and despair over the implosion of a campus football culture with quasi-religious overtones.
And so the first two questions tossed at Erickson from the floor of largely disaffected Penn State alums – and many of those that followed – dwelled on how the university could ever make things right with Paterno and why the university board of trustees was so quick to fire the winningest coach in major college history.
“He (Paterno) is the most single important Penn Stater in the history of the university,” declared the first questioner, who said he was a 1973 graduate and the son of a faculty member, causing the room to burst out in applause.
“Our overall thing is the lack of due process for Joe Paterno – he was a scapegoat,” said Steve Tross, a 1974 Penn State grad who lives in Paoli and works in marketing, one of last night’s early arrivals. “Everybody else is getting due process except Joe…I think there was a rush to judgment.”
if last night’s town hall – the second in a series of three confabs that started in Pittsburgh on Wednesday and ends tonight in New York – showed anything, it was how difficult it will be for Penn State to come to terms with November’s indictment of Paterno’s former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky on charges of molesting at least 10 boys going as far back as 1994 and the deepening questions over the university’s handling of the matter.
No one seemed to embody the conflict – and a stunningly persistent sense of denial – than Erickson, the genteel white haired former provost at center stage. Erickson, signed on to guide Penn State through 2014, repeatedly said his goal was “the guiding principle of openness and communication” – but those communications last night ignored the overwhelming failures of Penn State’s leaders in the Sandusky case.
“It grieves me very much when I hear people say that this is the Penn State scandal,” Erickson told one questioner last night. “This is the Sandusky scandal. This is not Penn State.”
Never once did Erickson, or anyone else, even mention that two former top Penn State officials – then-vice president Gary Schultz and athletic director Tim Curley – face criminal charges for allegedly lying about their handling of Sandusky. And for all the talk last night about Paterno, concerns that the football coach should have done more when learning in 2002 about a locker room allegation against Sandusky were never mentioned.
Indeed, for Erickson and Penn State, the new and belated drive for transparency still feels like what Richard Nixon’s Watergate-era White House famously called a “modified limited hangout” – and that may be giving this tour too much credit. Just this week, Erickson revealed that trustees and top officials were briefed on the Sandusky probe months before the indictment, raising new questions about what Penn State’s leaders knew and when did they know it. Many alumni asked, and rightfully so, why top trustees are not at these town halls, or why the minutes of the Nov. 9 board meeting at which Paterno and then-president Graham Spanier were ousted have not been made public. Others, including the Penn State faculty. still seek a real independent probe conducted by outsiders.
They shouldn’t hold their breath. Not when the No. 1 man in Happy Valley is still clinging to the fantasy that this is only “a Jerry Sandusky scandal.”
I find myself having to agree with you Will-a very painful position for me!It is a PSU problem and anyone aware of Sandusky and his predilictions is culpable. No excuses, no evasions. We are talking about the abuse of children. Anyone who was in a position to stop Sandusky or expose his actions and didn't do it is guilty. Idon't want to hear "chain of command" or "followed proceedure".
My favorite quote from the Nixon mess was the term "plausible deniability". Still one of the best corruptions of the concept of responsibility ever devised.— georgel
Comment removed.- I think the point he might be trying to make (if not very well) is that the allegations against Sandusky and the two administrators should not wrap the very large and largely very good Penn State community in a negative light. Penn State students, staff, employees, football players, etc. should not be considered guilty by association. The scandal and the way the school handled it are disgusting. But we should not drop good people into a black hole of outrage. The scandal happened because of a very sick man and university leaders who handled him badly. It probably could have happened anywhere. I definitely agree that the way this has been handled shows that major changes are needed at the top.— CCcomment
- CCcomment gets it right. Pretty shallow sensationalism there, Will - taking the comment and distorting its meaning. Obviously, as an institution they're taking it seriously, and think that it is a problem for the institution itself - hence the forum you went to.
You should know there's something wrong when georgel agrees with you, Will.— Talking point sleuth - wELL THIS ONE YOU GOT TOTALLY WRONG wILL.— PHAZED
- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
- The moral hubris of Will Bunch is amazing.— Comrade Noodlehead
- "Many demanded answers on why famed football coach Joe Paterno was fired by the trustees before an internal investigation, and several called for the removal of the trustees for taking that action and failing to protect the university from such a scandal. The large majority of the comments and questions centered on those issues."
So let me get this straight. They are mad because no one defended the University and Paterno didn't get an investigation before he was fired. Even after his statement that he wished he did more to stop his friend the pedophile from being on campus and bringing around his kids. That's what the alumni is worried about. Really.
Um CC. Paterno was one of those who handled it badly. He admitted it. If he wasn't Joe Paterno he would be facing charges. Anyone else would. He lied at the grand jury.
— Bush Destroyed America - Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but at least get your facts correct. Joe Paterno did not say he wished he had done more. Another typical misinformed person taking something out of context. What he said is KNOWING WHAT I KNOW NOW i wish I had done more. That is a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT statement. Know your facts idiot. — psualum2000
- Hey psualum...before you start calling others names you should get YOUR facts straight. This is exactly what Paterno said...“This is a tragedy. It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more." That has a very different meaning and connotation that what you're saying he said. Looks like you're the misinformed one... — ELM
- "With the benefit of hindsight" is the same thing as knowing what i know now. Seems that all the Joebashers seems to forget that. So I reiterate that the person who is "off the wall" enough to refer to himself as "Bush Destroyed America" is an idiot. I can now add you to that list. — psualum2000
- And also, how do you come off saying that Paterno lied to the grand jury??? Another false comment. And where do you come off saying that Paterno and the pedophile were frieds? How do you know this? By all accounts Paterno was not friends with Sandusky at all. I didn't know that if two people are co-workers they are also automatically friends. Bottom line is you are misinformed idiots who get all of your info from the media, which is scary to say the least. Later. — psualum2000
- This comment has been deleted. — DogBiscuitthedope
- Another stupid emotional response by DogBiscuit or whatever you call yourself. "Kool-Aid drinkers" is such an insult - seriously that is all you can come up with?? In any event, the bottom line is that it was not reported to Joe that someone was abusing his grandchild, which makes your analogy completely irrelevant and lacking in any substance. We do not know what exactly was reported to Joe, although we do know it was not reported to him that somethhing happened to his granchild. I don't know if you have grandchildren but I suppose what you are saying is taht if someone told you something happened to your granchild and something (we are not sure what) happended to some unidentified person you would react the same way. If someone did something to my grandchild, I would personally cut their nuts off! But if I was told some vague story about Sandusky I don't think I would go that far. Get a life! — psualum2000
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