Nittany tears

All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.

Irish orator Edmund Burke phrased this idea in 1770, long before Tim Curley, Gary Schultz, Graham Spanier, and yes, even before Joe Paterno, were all born.

It enrages me, however, as a fan, a college student, and above all, as a human being, that the atrocities that occurred at Penn State were able to continue under the employment of defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky.

All because a few good men did nothing.

First of all, let’s get this straight. Jerry Sandusky is a pedophile. He may be denying it right now, but with all the accusations, forty and counting, with witnesses, there is no getting around what an utterly disturbed man he is.

The focus of the mainstream media, though, for the past week at least, has not been Sandusky.

The person we have seen plastered all over the newspapers, our Internet news feeds and the television is that of one of the most storied coaches in all of sports: Joe Paterno.

Paterno’s 409 wins, encompassing a head-coaching career that began in 1966, make him one of the most legendary collegiate icons of all time. A man whose face is practically a more recognizable logo for Penn State than the Nittany Lion itself, Paterno has received the Paul “Bear” Bryant Award, Big Ten Coach of the Year and the NCAA Gerald R. Ford Award, just to name a few.

Due to his status, Paterno’s dismissal has led some people to feel that the head coach got a raw deal out of this whole situation.

And at the beginning, I will admit, I was one of them.

It seemed that Sandusky was a cancer to a tradition of excellence, a cancer that unfortunately consumed Paterno in its path. He was not, however, the most publically known figure in the case, and therefore did not develop into the scapegoat that his superior easily became.

After time to analyze the situation, however, and gather all the information that has been made public, I understand Penn State’s decision to remove Paterno and support it 100%.

You see, Penn State University is not just a football team. It is an institution of learning, and a prestigious one at that. PSU has a reputation of excellence, a reputation that will now forever be tarnished. The only hope of salvation for Happy Valley was, and is, to wash their hands of all involved.

That means eliminating all who have any connection whatsoever, requiring the figure-head of the team to lead the march out the door.

The head coach turned in the incident to the athletic director, who turned it in to the president of the university. This is where the burden of morality stopped, as no further action or notification of authority took place.

“With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more,” Paterno said.

Well no kidding.

When the innocence of children is at stake, the reputation of a team cannot be put before the safety of the defenseless. The lack of moral leadership in the entire Penn State administration is sickening.

Let us not forget in this entire mess the true victims: the children. Please pray for them and their families through this tumultuous ride that will only reveal more with time.

Defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky is the true evil in this scandal.

But evil was allowed to prevail because Paterno and his superiors did nothing.