I think head football coach Joe Paterno was a great man who allowed his personal ambition get the better of him and insisted on remaining the head coach long after it was time for him to retire. This gave his enemies on the Board of Trustees -– the ones, that is, that had come to resent his power and lacked the courage to challenge him while he was still coach — ample time to gather evidence for his removal. I think that they all knew of former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky’s actions with young boys was known, but none had the courage to do or do anything as long as Paterno was still in charge. It was only when he became too old and enfeebled to defend himself that some found the courage to act. This suggests Paterno’s real failing, indifference based on ambition, is really identical to that of the trustees. The secret tribunal in which they tried and sentenced Coach Paterno without benefit of counsel or the ability to answer the charges himself is strong evidence to this effect.
The charge was moral wrongdoing, and the sentence was death, which was passed unanimously without dissent and carried out instantly without benefit of appeal.
There was no admission of responsibility by any of the trustees, including now Gov. Tom Corbett, for what Sandusky had been allowed to do on Penn State’s campus. So if Joe Paterno was guilty of moral neglect then so were they. As long as the members of this secret tribunal remain at their posts, the cancer of indifference will still remain. Therefore whoever among them with an ounce of integrity should admit to their role in the Sandusky affair and resign without further ado.
Frank Morgan
Wrightsville, Pa.
