This weekend, Penn State football’s former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was arrested and arraigned on 40 criminal counts stemming from allegations of sexually assaulting eight boys during a 15-year period.
As if this wasn’t enough of a scar on the face of the university, perjury charges have also been filed against two top PSU officials: Athletic Director Tim Curley and Interim Senior Vice President for Finance and Business Gary Schultz.
Both have also been accused of failing to alert police to their investigation of the allegations against Sandusky.
Penn State President Spanier said in a press release Saturday that Curley and Schultz have his unconditional support. The message Spanier is sending is clear: he, and the university, see nothing wrong with the way allegations were handled.
But university leaders have shamed and disappointed the university they serve. Every person who is affiliated with the university hangs their heads.
If anything, it is clear from the allegations that the university’s investigation was not handled properly. Curley and Schultz brought their course of action to Graham Spanier in 2002 — and he signed off on it. Their action plan? Sandusky was not allowed to bring any more children from his charity, The Second Mile — which works with at-risk children — on campus.
This was not enough.
Penn State’s reaction to these allegations would suggest that the university didn’t mind what Sandusky did, so long as it wasn’t in its backyard.
The moral failure of every single person involved is appalling. No one did anything more than try to sweep this problem off-campus.
These recent allegations would suggest that those who’ve been put into roles of power guarded Sandusky to protect the university’s reputation.
Regardless of the findings in this case, Penn State is now under the most negative light it has been in during the past decade. The university has brought shame upon itself.
So what now?
Administrators must be more accountable and transparent.
Students, alumni and anyone concerned with the state of the university need to pay attention. There is no room for apathy right now.
Justice must be served to any and all found guilty in this case; those who’s acts have brought shame to the university need to be held accountable.
