More than 300 students packed into Ballroom C of the Nittany Lion Inn last night, even if it meant they had to sit on the floor in a corner or stand in the back by the door.

They came out to hear "Media Ethics and Reputational Harm: The Richard Jewell Story."

Richard Jewell, the security guard and American hero who was falsely accused of the 1996 Centennial Olympic Park bombings in Atlanta, visited Penn State along with his attorney L. Lin Wood.

Wood said that even he believed at first that Jewell was the bomber, but Jewell explained that this was one reason he approached Wood to represent him.

"I knew I wanted Wood on my team because he was very angered that he had been fooled by the media, and he would fight for me," he said.

Clay Calvert, interim dean of the Schreyer Honors College, opened the discussion. He said Jewell and Wood had already visited classes Tuesday and yesterday. Calvert called Jewell "an American hero who saved dozens, if not hundreds of lives."

He also said Jewell does not make many public appearances because he wants his privacy back. "He had his life turned upside down by news media," he said.

Wood said Jewell had spotted a package that contained a bomb, and he single-handedly evacuated everyone from the area, not knowing when the bomb would explode.

"For three days, the media recognized him as a hero, and that was the truth," Wood said.

He said Jewell made a decision few have had to make in their lives, and he made the right one.

However, Jewell's dream turned into a nightmare when the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that he was a suspect in the bombing.

Wood said that same report was read verbatim on CNN.

"He was put on trial by the media," he said.

Wood said everyone started to believe he placed the bomb and made the call to 911.

He said Jewell was being called a "fat failed former security guard" and "white trash."

A radio show requested Jewell's public execution, and Tom Brokaw went on the evening broadcast and announced that police had enough to arrest Jewell right away.

Wood said the media frenzy lasted for 88 days, until the Justice Department sent a letter to Jewell in October clearing him of any involvement in the bombing.

He said that last year, Eric Rudolph pleaded guilty to planting the bombs and making the 911 call.

"Richard Jewell is in fact a hero. All he did was his job and saved many innocent lives," Wood said.

Jewell said that even though he has sued news media outlets for libel, he doesn't think he could ever get his reputation back.

"Just imagine your own mother turning to you, and for that one instant, believing the media before she believes you," Jewell said. "I will never get back that pride that I had for those first three days; I'll never get back the pride my mom had for me."

Wood said he asked the media to finish the story of Jewell after his name was cleared -- nobody did.

He said the city of Atlanta never thanked Jewell.

"The reputation of a hero is what the media took from him," Wood said.

Jewell took a moment to speak to the future journalists in the crowd by telling them to keep their integrity.

"You don't have many things in this world that you can call your own anymore; integrity is one of them," he said.

Wood said Brokaw admitted that he and other members of the media hurt Jewell.

However, the case with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has not yet been settled.

"They can't admit that they made a mistake," Wood said.

Colleen McTeigue (senior-journalism and integrative art) said she was a little choked up at the end of the discussion.

"It was really inspiring, especially for this amount of soon-to-be journalists," she said.