Pope-Paterno-Penn State

Notes of Concern…

                               …Jackson Blair

Pope-Paterno-Penn State

This is not the column I planned to submit this week. However the news about the claimed abuse of young boys by a long time employee of Penn State University’s famed football program, and the University’s response, has angered me.

Football is pretty much a manly sport. The Penn State coach demonstrated he was not up to this.

Coaching carries a special responsibility for role modeling. Joe Paterno demonstrated he was not up to this.

And all of it requires the highest possible personal conduct requirements. From the President of Penn State right down the line none of this conduct was evident.

So when it becomes known that a coach has been seen engaging in sexual acts with young boys, reportedly as young as eight, it would seem to me that the information would be explosive.

Yet we are asked to believe that when Coach Paterno was told, he properly passed it up the ladder and then showed absolutely no interest in how it was resolved and that this is acceptable behavior.

Years later, when this information became public, the President of Penn State shares that he has complete confidence in the underlings at the University who received this news and the manner in which they handled the news. Since his expression of confidence, he accepted their resignations.

This sounds too familiar.

Not too long ago the parish priests didn’t know what was happening all around them. The Bishops didn’t know. The Archbishops didn’t know. The Cardinals didn’t know. The Pope didn’t know. And the people who did know, did nothing.

Millions of dollars changed hands. Parishes lost churches. Money that should have served the needs of the poor went into the pockets of attorneys.

Now the President of Penn State didn’t know. The Athletic Director didn’t know. Coach Paterno didn’t know. Local officials of the charitable organization formed by the assistant coach to bring young boys into his circle didn’t know.

No one protected the Catholic children.

Who was supposed to protect them?

It seems no one protected the athletes under the care of a long term university coach.

Who was supposed to protect them?

The President of Penn State has accepted the resignations of people who worked for him.

If these charges are accurate, the Board of Trustees should demand the resignations of the President of Penn State, who has full responsibility for the actions of those who work for him.

Coach Paterno has now announced he will step down at the end of the season. Not enough. He should step down immediately. He demonstrated an incredible lack of responsibility by not pursuing the story shared with him.

And the bottom line: whether the former coach actually committed these acts is the purview of a judge and jury. I certainly make no claim to knowledge of the actual details.

I have read the lengthy filing by the officials in Pennsylvania. There is no way you could read what they have found out and not believe that everyone working and living in the Penn State community did not have suspicions, or even direct knowledge.

This looks like, and smells like, a cover-up of immense proportions. The football program brings in around $70 million annually to Penn State I am told.

Officials who should know better seemed more interested in keeping the funding cash cow operation going than in protecting young boys from difficult circumstances.

The fact that the information was held in private and a proper investigation, according to clear legal requirements, was not conducted is in and of itself unconscionable behavior and deserving of condemnation by good people everywhere.

Joe Paterno seems to still be able to construct the actual format of his stepping down. Not acceptable.

The officials at Penn State who report to the president have tried taking the fall. Not acceptable.

The President of Penn State needs to accept responsibility for this egregious behavior that occurred on his watch and if he does not step down the Penn State Board of Trustees should fire him.

I was born and raised in Pennsylvania. Joe Paterno has been a hero of mine for decades. Either age or an underlying lack of moral principles has brought him down.

 Penn State is a wonderful university with many distinguished graduates. This scandal does not reflect on the quality of a Penn State education but rather on the quality of the leadership of the university at this current moment in time.

The President’s insensitivity in this matter, and his seeming lack of concern for the young boys whose plights were reported, make him the poster boy for bad behavior by university officials.

This is a fast moving story and undoubtedly we will have many more pieces of information by the time this column is in print. Of one thing we can be certain, it will continue to be a sad story of big school fund raising, big school athletics, and people protecting their friends and associates at an enormous cost to young boys futures.

For further information:  jacksonblair@gmail.com