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Future Nittany Lion?
When I first visited Penn State, in 1991, we were touring schools for my older sister. All I remember from that first look at Happy Valley, besides for thinking the campus was beautiful, was what happened during the walking part of the tour.
I was walking near another tour participant when he dropped something on the ground. He littered. Or he just dropped something accidentally and kept walking. But a random Penn Stater walking in the opposite direction stopped that person on our tour and encouraged him pick it up. The message: We don’t litter at Penn State. I was impressed. This place must really mean something to people.
My sister, and then I, both attended the school. For me, it had nothing to do with football. The English department was stellar, and they let me waffle for two years before declaring my major. I took graphic design, economics, cinema studies, ballroom dance and lots of writing classes. I had a blast.
I attended most football games during my four years there, as well as a wrestling match, volleyball games and swim and diving meets. I volunteered for the overall communications team of Dance Marathon, the large student-run philanthropy in the country. (Permit me one moment to brag: The students raised $9.56 million last year alone for The Four Diamonds Fund at Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital, which helps kids with cancer and their families.)
I remember thinking Penn State was the New York City of colleges: Whatever you’re interested in, there’s a good chance you’ll find the best of it there.
Which isn’t to say you won’t also find the worst. As we all came to learn this past week, there was some heinous stuff going on behind the scenes at Penn State. While it’s hard to still think about Penn State as a Utopia, I can’t forget the Utopian experience I had there for four years. Or the tens of thousands of hard-earned dollars my family invested in my and my sister’s education there. Or how the reputation of my college degree is now on the line.
Pride and memory and the demand for justice make for awkward bedfellows. We did not ask for this new reality of Penn State, just like those boys didn’t ask to be abused. And yet that’s what we got. I know I can speak for countless alumni and students when I say we are going to help restore the sense of honor at our school and make sure the wrongs get righted…to the extent, of course, that we can.
For nothing is going to restore those boys’ innocence. Nothing is going to turn back time and have the leaders we all trusted do the right and honorable thing. But we can help prevent this from happening again. Our eyes have been opened to horrors, and now we all must heal…and move forward.
In 1996, while I was on campus, a State College resident named Jillian Robbins opened fire on the HUB lawn, killed student Melanie Spalla and wounded student Nicholas Mensah. From the depths of our despair at that time emerged a hero: An honors student, Brendon Malovrh, saw what Robbins was doing and disarmed her before she could shoot more people. When Robbins tried to stab Malovrh and stabbed herself instead, Malovrh created a tourniquet out of his own belt and treated her leg. I was in the honors college at the time, and yes, I felt proud of Malovrh.
JoePa was Penn State’s hero for six decades, but a new Penn State hero will rise out of this situation as well. One positive outcome already: A number of alumni have mobilized to raise money for RAINN: Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network. Their goal is to raise more than $500,000, or $1 for each Penn State alum. They’re already at more than $350,000.
Like most Penn Staters, I have been devouring the media coverage. The other day my sister forwarded me an interesting piece from the Daily Collegian, Penn State’s student paper. It mentions how the victims are feeling about JoePa’s termination and the community’s response.
Ben Andreozzi, the lawyer representing some of the alleged victims, said, “These victims do not live in a bubble.” They too are effected by JoePa’s brash dismissal, by the students’ rioting, by the excessive media coverage. “The school let the victims down once,” he said, “and I think they owed it to the victims to at least gauge how the immediate termination decision would impact them as opposed to Mr. Paterno’s resignation at the end of the year.”
The psychology involved in this case is complex. The “right” course of action during the aftermath is and will continue to be different for different parties involved. My head is spinning when I think about the victims, the leaders, the many, many thousands of people affected – personally, and tangentially. And it’s only going to get more prickly from here, as further details emerge and legal proceedings continue.
Penn State pride is a wonderful, albeit tricky thing. It can inspire greatness in people and organizations; yet, it must not be allowed to cloud our judgment. We owe it to ourselves, and to those entrusted in our care, to ensure that Happy Valley also remains High Road Valley.
As a friend and fellow alumna told me the other night: Even with the tarnish, the embarrassment and downfall this past week, when pictures of downtown State College come on national TV, her heart surges, and she can’t help but smile. It’s just that special of a place.
Do we defend the alleged abuse of those boys and the actions our leaders failed to take? In no way, shape or form. Do we defend the rest of the school and its efforts from here forward to rebuild its reputation? Absolutely.
Links to other pieces of potential interest:
A letter to our Members – from the Penn State Alumni Association
To non-Staters, By Beth Painter – from Facebook
Lawyer criticizes Board of Trustees’ decision to fire Joe Paterno – from the Daily Collegian
Proud to Be a Penn Stater – grassroots alumni fundraiser for RAINN
Notes From Time Out 