The University's decision to honor Joe Paterno is an insult to the victims and a stain on an otherwise great institution of education.  Penn State must apologize for honoring former coach Joe Paterno during the Temple game on September 17, 2016.   

We must send a message that it is everyone's duty to take action against child abuse and sexual violence.  No exceptions.  This is the primary purpose of this petition - to make sure what happened at Penn State never happens again.  By apologizing, and settling this once and for all, we can send that message.

While the support of everyone is critical, most critical is the support of Penn Staters.  Nothing will happen without the support of the Penn State community.  As a Penn State alumnus, I write this letter to you all so we can show everyone we are better than this:

While the University must apologize, this is not an attack on the whole Penn State community.  The Pennsylvania State University is a great institution of education, producing many of our nation's engineers, advancing our understanding of agriculture and climate science, and so much more.  Penn State students also run THON, the largest student-run fundraiser in the country, which raises millions annually for cancer research.  We know there are so many decent, brilliant people in the Penn State community.  But our inaction in the face of this reprehensible defense of Paterno overshadows it all.  For the sake of Penn State, we need to take action.

As a Penn State graduate, it pains me to see what is an otherwise great University ruin its reputation in defense of the indefensible.  Yet, I understand it in part.  We grew up watching Penn State football - which was synonymous with Joe Paterno.  We liked his quirky personality and his commitment to the team.  We tailgated on Saturdays, just like every college football team's fans do.  Penn State football brought us together, it brought us fun and joy, and Paterno was the one who brought it together.  Sports in general are a time to put aside, ever so briefly, the sometimes grim realities of the world.  This scandal made that impossible.  We didn't want this to be true, so we looked for anything that would give us hope that it wasn't.  This is classic denial.  It's understandable.  But the facts are just too damning for this denial to continue.

Sworn testimony from one of Sandusky's victims states that he told Paterno in 1976 about Sandusky's predatory and vile conduct.  This alone ought to be enough, because sworn testimony means under penalty of perjury.  Some have said this is a ploy by the insurance company to avoid liability.  While the insurance company's motive may be self-interested, the victim's is not.  The claim from which this testimony emerged -now settled and with confidential terms- was between Penn State and PMA Insurance only.  The victim had nothing to gain:  his claim would be paid regardless of the outcome here.  Why risk perjury, with nothing to gain?  The simple answer here is that the victim was telling the truth. 

Think about what this means.  Paterno was told about a child being raped, and he not only did nothing, he angrily commanded the victim to remain silent.  If he had taken this charge seriously, many innocent children could have been spared the trauma of rape.  This is simply unacceptable.  But even without this, Paterno's actions were dishonorable.

Consider this:  years later, Paterno is told by his assistant of similar abuse.  He reports it to the Athletic Director, and asks no questions when Sandusky is banned from using Penn State facilities, but no other action taken.  In fact, Sandusky was still around town, running a children's 'charity'.  Paterno's defense was deference to the process.  That Paterno 'deference' stands in stark contrast to his repeated and well-known clashes with University disciplinarians when it came to his players.  His interference was so severe, it led to former chief disciplinarian Dr. Vicky Triponey resigning in protest.  In short, Paterno was not shy about interfering in University business when he cared to, so we're left only with the conclusion that he didn't care much about this. 

If you're still unsure, put yourself in his shoes.  You are told a child was raped.  You report it.  You find out later that the accused rapist has been banned from your campus, but that's all.  You hear nothing from the accused rapist, challenging this ban.  Doesn't that tell you the accusation had some merit?  Don't you think more should be done?  If it was in your power to do more, wouldn't you?

Paterno is certainly not the only one at fault here.  Former President Spanier, Athletic Director Curley, and Vice President Schultz bare more responsibility here.  They conspired to cover this up - as would have been revealed had the testimony of Penn State lawyer Cynthia Baldwin - to whom Spanier likely confessed as he thought she was his lawyer- not been ruled inadmissible.  Further, as responsible as they were, Sandusky himself is the most to blame.  But being better than a serial child rapist is quite a low bar to set for decency.   And it's difficult to believe that the most popular and influential person at Penn State didn't know what action these administrators were taking regarding his longtime colleague, when it could so severely impact the football program he spent his life building. 

With the evidence viewed as a whole, it becomes clear that -at best- Paterno was morally negligent.  At worst, he was part of a conspiracy to cover up this horrifying abuse.  Either way, this is not a man worthy of being honored.  Doing so is not only an insult to the victims, it makes it seem that the powerful need not be held to account, that football is more important than protecting children, that inaction in the face of abuse is acceptable.  And so, for the victims, and for Penn State, we must demand that the University publicly apologize for its insensitive tribute to Paterno. 

Let's show the world who WE ARE