Penn State: The Sandusky Scandal

The fallout from the case resulted in a two-year postseason ban, a four-year probationary period, but maybe most significantly, a complete disassociation between the school and the Fab Five. All banners were removed. All records were vacated”.

Joe Paterno has been at the helm of Penn State football since 1966. In the world of intercollegiate sports it’s hard to find a coach that has a tenure with the same institution for more than ten years. In the past 37 seasons, Coach Paterno has won an astonishing 336 games, breaking Paul “Bear” Bryant’s record of 323 set at the University of Alabama. Besides obtaining the most wins in NCAA Division 1-A football, Paterno has two national championships (1982 and 1986) and a Big Ten conference championship in 1994 (DeLassus). These great moments add to the tradition of Penn State football history, but that’s exactly the point, Paterno’s triumphs are history. The past four

The NCAA makes it clear that the main purpose of the student-athletes is to get an education. This is true especially in the NCAA Division two philosophy where it states, “Promoting the academic success of its student-athletes, measured in part by an institution’s student-athletes graduating at least at the same rate as the institution’s student body” (Division II Philosophy Statement). It also states that coaches will be responsible for the actions of their student-athletes. I think this is something that the coaches and athletic staff at Binghamton forgot, because they were too wrapped up in becoming a Division 1 school that they their ethics and values in the

A tragic hero is a self- acknowledged person who contains a tragic flaw, which sets into motion a series of events that results in the utter ruin and demise of the hero. Joe Paterno, former head football coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions, truly reflects this characterization. Paterno was well known for his own successful football career as both a quarterback at Brown University and coach at Penn State. He led the Nittany Lions to two back-to-back perfect seasons in 1968 and 1969, two national winning championships in 1982 and 1986, and 37 bowl appearances with 24 wins. Additionally, he coached five undefeated teams, and was later inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Joe Paterno seemed to be living the life of a living legend,

The case “officially” begins on November 4, 2011 when the Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania filed charges against Gerald Sandusky (Sandusky) that included multiple counts of aggravated indecent assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, corruption of minors, unlawful contact with minors, and endangering the welfare of minors. Several of the charges cover offenses that occurred between 1998 and 2002 when Sandusky was either the Defensive Coordinator for the Penn State University (PSU) football team or as a professor Emeritus with unrestricted access to the football program’s facilities (Freeh,

He is eventually sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison (Johnson, 2012). On July 12, 2012 a report is released by Louis J. Freeh, a former federal judge and director of the F.B.I. The report makes accusations that Penn State University deliberately withheld information and hid facts regarding the actions of Jerry Sandusky. (Freeh Sporking & Sullivan, LLP, 2012) Days later, on July 23, 2012, the N.C.A.A would fine Penn State $60 million dollars, ban the football team from participating in post-season play for a length of four years, the school would have to reduce the scholarships given out over the next four years, and the N.C.A.A. would vacate the football teams victories, and Joe Paternos victories, from

Regarding the prison sentence of 30 to 60 years imposed on Jerry Sandusky, I agree and disagree. I strongly agree with the sentence because it is long enough to, more than likely, keep him in prison for the rest of his natural life. The high probability that this sentence will not allow Jerry Sandusky to ever be free to victimize more children, the sentence is sufficient for the awful crimes he committed. Molesting children is one of the worst if not ‘the worst’ crimes anyone can commit. Keep in mind that the case against Jerry Sandusky took close to ten years before justice could be served in his crimes against children. It took the courage of Aaron Fisher and his mother who reported the abuse to the state youth authorities in 2008 (Johnson,

However, I would have to agree with the first half and say that Joe Paterno’s actions were inadequate. Although Joe Paterno reported what he saw to the Penn State president his responsibility shouldn’t have ended there. Yes, he fulfilled his obligation to report any illegal actions on campus but when the Penn State President chose not to take legal action Paterno should have made the moral decision and had gone to the authorities. Legally, he fulfilled his obligation and therefore no longer holds any responsibility in the eyes of the legal system. In the eyes of morality though, his responsibility in the matter was not over just because he reported it to who he was supposed to. This major problem should have been dealt with a long time ago. It’s just a moral obligation that Joe Paterno should have acted upon. So yes I feel he deserved to be fired. Everyone who knew about it should have reported it to legal authorities. His great athletic achievements and mutual respect should have pushed towards the issue being resolved and not swept under the rug for it to come out years after and now resulting in him being fired. Every action has a reaction and in this case the reaction is due to Paternos lack of action.

Everything was looking good for Joe Paterno and Penn State football as his football managing career rose with an overall record of 298-136-3 but in 2011, all that changed. Back in 2000 a janitor of Penn State witnessed Sandusky receiving oral sex from a young boy, the janitor reported what he saw to co-workers and his supervisor but none of these men reported these actions to authorities. It wasn’t until November 5, 2011 that Sandusky was arrested on a $100,000 bail and up to 40 criminal counts. ESPN were quickly in the scene to investigate and report the allegations on Sandusky. They quickly reported saying Sandusky was charged with more than 50 counts of child sex-abuse involving 10 boys he met through The Second

NCAA findings also included "unethical conduct by the former coach, extra benefits, preferential treatment and ineligible participation"(Associated Press, 2011). Earlier in 2006, a different case was closed that involved former coach Kelvin Sampson making impermissible recruiting phone calls which also put the program on probation (Associated Press, 2011). The NCAA however did not label the school as a "repeat violator", although it qualifies, due to the severe penalties it will face. The program’s two major violations committed in a span of five years clearly go against the governing body’s mission, and core values it commits itself to which include: respect, “pursuit of excellence in both academics and athletics” and “the highest levels of integrity and sportsmanship”(NCAA, 2004). Furthermore NCAA investigations can prove to be costly to the school; per 2011 information release to the Associated Press the university listed that it spent $50,057 on legal fees while investigating the program’s major rules violations (Associated Press,

The FBI had stated that after conducting an investigation that these senior officials had known about Sandusky’s actions as early as 1998 and had failed to disclose this information to authorities. On October 9, 2012, Jerry Sandusky was sentenced to a minimum of 30 years and a maximum of 60 years in prison. Spanier, Curley, and Schultz have been charged with grand jury perjury, conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and child endangerment in association with the scandal. Paterno and McQueary never had any charges pressed on them because they did what they were obligated to do. McQueary had reported the incident to his superior which is Joe Paterno. Joe Paterno also reported the incident to his superior who is Curley and Schultz. This whole situation caused a huge reaction nationwide.

There has been a lot of controversy on whether colleges should be paying the paying their athletes. Brian Frederick, a board member of Sports Fan Coalition and an adjunct professor for Georgetown University’s Sport Industry Management Program, believes colleges have a broken system when it comes to athletes. Frederick’s contemptuous tone discredits sports fan, who believe college athletes already get paid enough with their education, by stating “If a student athlete is hurt or unsuccessful, the coaches and administrators suddenly discard the noble ideals of “education” and a player is left with nothing.” With the use of metaphors and similes, Frederick convinces sport fans to take action and make the calls in order to continue college athletics

The criticism will have to be based on a school by school basis. I specifically know of a situation where my favorite football team, Notre Dame, had suspended their quarter back for violation of the honor code by cheating on a test, when it was most critical to keep him playing when Notre Dame was ranked #1 and going to the National Championships in 2012 who eventually were beaten for the title by Alabama. Notre Dame has a very strong honor code and strictly adheres to the code of ethics. Is it because the university is a Catholic school?? The university itself contacted the NCAA about the academic dishonesty of four of their players which resulted in the suspension of Everett Golson (QB). “The University is committed to thorough resolution of this matter, consistent with its commitment to academic integrity and adherence to NCAA rules," Father Jenkins said. In this case, it looks as though Notre Dame is based more on ethical values than that of the NCAA. Although they NCAA does have rules, regulations and punishments in place, they do not seem to attack ethical values head on than being more in

SMU became the University of the death penalty because they were cheating and using money to get top high school football athletes. That is against the rules of the NCAA for a short period of time they have gotten away with it but finally got caught when former football players came out and speak on the matter to the media. Which they made it public and the NCAA had to take charge and punish SMU for their actions. Which lead to the death penalty and for future football athletes they had to suffer from the death penalty. Overall, the players did not have to take the money but most did and it cost scholarships, being ban from bowl games, and no home games in 1987.

Since collegiate athletics have begun, there have been all kinds of cheating scandals involving the big-time college sports. College sports today are filled with preventable, scandalous acts made by college coaches and administrators. An example of this would be the case of fake “paper classes” at the University of North Carolina at Chapel-Hill. I personally believe that the NCAA should not have imposed any sanctions or allegations amongst the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for academic integrity violations, threatening to take away titles, and making athletes ineligible to compete.