There has been a media frenzy over the firing of Coach Joe Paterno and President of Penn State. Famous coach Joe Paterno, who has the most college victories in college football history, must now say his last good-byes to the sport. The firing took place on a Wednesday night in the midst of an alleged sexual abuse scandal involving his former assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky.
Jerry Sandusky was arrested on November 5, 2011. The New York Times reported that “prosecutors have said he was a serial pedophile who was allowed to add victims over the years in part because the university he had served was either unable or unwilling to stop him.” The former coach has been charged with sexually abusing eight boys for a duration of 15 years. Other officials, such as the athletic director and the senior vice president for finance and business, have been charged with failing to report these allegations to the police. The Penn State coach and president are suspected of knowing of some of these allegations, and also failing to do as much possible to cease the suspected crimes.
“At this moment the Board of Trustees should not spend a single minute discussing my status,” Mr. Paterno said in his statement. “They have far more important matters to address. I want to make this as easy for them as I possibly can. 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.”
The board did not allow Coach Paterno to finish his football season, and instead they unanimously voted for him to cease his coaching, effective immediately. Defensive coordinator Tom Bradley will finish out the 2011-2012 football season.
However, the student response to the recent events are contrary to what many had expected. Many students at Penn State have found the news of Paterno’s dismissal upsetting.
When Nicole Atlak, a freshman from Toms River, New Jersey, was asked how she felt about Paterno being fired, she said, “Absolutely disgusted. From a student’s perspective, it’s like where do we go from here? We no longer have a president. We no longer have a 45-year legacy.”
It is unfortunate that the world of college football has had to deal with such a terrible scandal. Although many people think it is unfair that Joe Paterno was fired, Paterno himself understands that there was much more that could have been done to bring more attention to the allegations made against Assistant Coach Sandunsky.
The Penn State scandal has led many to question the influence of college sports on academic institutions. President Barack Obama recently stated, “the sexual abuse scandal at Penn State has an important message for institutions far beyond college sports: that protecting children is more important than shielding institutions.”