Joe Paterno was fired from the head coaching position of Penn State University this week based on allegations that he had a role in covering up child molestation allegations against former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky. If true, the moral failings of Paterno are clear. But could Penn State have better handled the firing of coach Paterno?
While the allegations against Jerry Sandusky are horrendous, they are still allegations. Until he is tried and convicted by a jury of his peers, he is still legally not guilty. In fact, he has proclaimed his innocence throughout this debacle. His fate is in the hands of the judicial system.
But what about Paterno? He supposedly heard the allegations in 2002, and then passed them up to his boss, Penn State Athletic Director Tim Curley. Mr. Curley and Penn State Vice President Gary Schultz were arrested earlier this week for failing to report the 2002 molestation allegations. Furthermore, after the alleged incident, Jerry Sandusky was allowed to continue his work on Penn State’s campus with The Second Mile Charity that he founded. Meanwhile, Paterno has seemingly been deemed innocent of any legal violations since he reported the allegations to his bosses. But many think Paterno could have, and should have, done more once he was made aware of the allegations.
This has led this week to coach Paterno and Penn State President Graham Spanier suddenly being fired in the midst of a successful football season for Penn State. The allegations that Joe Paterno, and indeed the entire Penn State community, failed in their moral obligation to their community and to the children who visit the PSU campus, is a harsh one. But should coach Paterno have lost his job so suudenly?
There is no easy answer to this question. Joe Paterno has been the head football coach at Penn State for nearly 46 years. His reputation was nearly spotless. He donated part of his $1 million salary back to Penn State. Prominent football players and members of the Penn State community raved about his positive influence in their lives.
Even so, it is hard to look past the idea that no one, not even Joe Paterno, called police when allegations of child molestation were made. Child molestors are considered some of the lowest of the low by society, and the fact that Mr. Sandusky was not stopped at the time of the allegation, and that he possibly terrorized other young boys for the next 9 years, is hard to swallow. All that was needed was one phone call by Joe Paterno, or others who knew of the allegations, and it would have ended things much, much sooner.
When parents send students to a college campus, they expect the faculty, the administration, and the coaches, to take a little of the responsibilty for the safety of there sons and daughters, whether they be 10 or 20 years old. Not only that, but a failure to stop a crime could lead to serious litigation against a college or university. A university is more than just football, and the Penn State board of trustees were in no position to allow coach Paterno to continue. They needed to let propective students and their families know that they are safe at Penn State. They also needed to protect the university from potentially damaging future lawsuits by appearing to take the proper steps.
It is a sad situation that a man so well respected in his field and his community had to lose his job. But he forgot the responisibility towards society, and his university, when he failed to make a simple phone call, and he is rightly paying for it.