College football teams will be starting fall camp soon in preparation for another season. I’ve already weighed in on the Penn State scandal, but given recent developments, I just have to say something more…
The behavior of students at Penn State in the interim since the NCAA handed down its sanctions has been less than edifying. Still, these are college students and I suppose we can expect them to be clueless idiots because that’s what college students do—I speak from experience. What causes me to comment is the attitudes and behavior of adults connected with PSU.
The recent indignant shows of defiance display a complete lack of empathy for the victims of Jerry Sandusky, neigh, the victims of the whole PSU administration as well, from the trustees, to the college president, to the head coach. There are degrees of culpability here to be sure, but what these so-called supporters do not understand is that the entire university failed these boys.
I have heard all the arguments about how it’s unfair to punish the players. They are the unfortunate collateral damage of this tragedy. However, they do not have to live the rest of their lives with the memory of being violated, in the most intimate way, by a person of trust. The players can transfer if they wish, no questions asked, and some of them are doing just that.
Of all the despicable behavior of PSU supporters of late, surely most heinous examples are those who wish ill to those players who transfer. This is the earmark of a culture that has become twisted and evil. Star running back Silas Redd just completed his transfer to the University of Southern California and is now being subjected to the vilest vitriol from these alleged “PSU supporters.”
If the NCAA’s intention was to change the culture at Penn State, they obviously underestimated the virulence of the disease. I must join the growing chorus calling for the death penalty for PSU football. I fear that doing away with the source of this moral schizophrenia is the only solution.
Penn State University was the second land-grant college established in this country. The first was my alma mater, Michigan State University. These two institutions set the pattern for all land-grant colleges under the Morrill Act of 1862. Land-grant universities represent the noble ideal of teaching practical agriculture, science, and engineering in addition to traditional liberal arts studies. These institutions revolutionized higher education in the U.S. It is painful beyond words that such an illustrious heritage has become so degraded especially by something as inconsequential as football. I pray that all those who are part of the Penn State community come to realize this.
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