Penn State Scandal Will Go Down as One of the Saddest Tragedies of All Time
The adjective that is being used overwhelmingly to describe the Penn State scandal is “sad.”
A simple word often overused and undervalued, “sad” is the perfect label for this tragedy. When a person hears of this story, the most they can do is shake their head and take a deep breath. Sadness takes over the moment. Sadness is what one feels for Penn State, Joe Paterno and, most importantly, the victims of the inhumane criminal charges levied against Jerry Sandusky.
Sandusky, a staff member of Penn State’s program for 32 seasons, was arrested on Nov. 5 for sexually abusing children between the years of 1994 and 2009. He met the victims through Second Mile, a foundation that Sandusky started himself to help troubled boys.
In the end, Sandusky caused more trouble than he got rid of.
First, and most importantly by far, he scarred the lives of at least eight boys if the charges are true. These kids were already in tough situations, as evidenced by their membership in Second Mile. Add to that being abused by a guy who they thought was a mentor, friend and, possibly, father figure, and you’ve got one messed up life.
Second, Joe Paterno was fired not because of what he did, but because of what he didn’t do. And it’s not that he didn’t do anything at all—he reported the case to athletic director Tim Curley—it’s that he didn’t follow up on it and do everything in his power to see that justice was served.
This man dedicated his life to Penn State and it’s a shame that one of the greatest coaches of all time will go down in flames because of a sick and disgusting crime.
Third, Penn State’s reputation as an honest, ethical program just got wiped off the face of the Earth. Joe Paterno was the icon of Penn State, and his main contribution to the university was not wins in football. It was that he led his program with an academics-first, ethics-first approach. That made Penn State an attractive place to go to school.
Now Penn State has to rebuild, from scratch, the reputation that it spent the better part of a century creating.
This scandal is in its beginning stages of public revelation. By the end of it, what seems like a lot now could be minuscule compared to the entire truth.
Whatever it was that happened at Penn State and Second Mile from 1994 to 2009 was sick, sad and, frankly, unacceptable behavior by a human being. One can’t help but wonder what gets a person to that dark of a place in consciousness and life.
When thinking of tragedies on school campuses, notable events like the Virginia Tech shooting, the Kent State Massacre and the Columbine shooting come to mind.
When this is all said and done, the Jerry Sandusky scandal at Penn State will rank right up there with them as one of the saddest tragedies of all time.
And hopefully, in the end, justice will be served once and for all.
