On Saturday November 6, 2011, former coach of Penn State University, Jerry Sandusky, was arrested with charges of child abuse. For 15 years he molested and abused children. This was shocking to everyone, except for five men who had worked with Sandusky prior to his arrest. These five men include: Tim Curley, Gary Schultz, Graham Spanier, Mike McQueary, and Joe Paterno.
According to the grand jury report, Mike McQueary witnessed Sandusky performing sexual acts on a ten-year-old boy in the shower at the Lasch Football Building. After McQueary witnessed the horrendous acts, he went to his father for advice. The next day McQueary divulged what he had seen to Coach Paterno. Paterno then went to Tim Curley, Penn State’s Athletic Director. A week went by and McQueary was asked to tell the Senior VP of Penn State, Gary Schultz, what he had seen in the locker room that evening.
The most shocking detail: All of these men who claim to be honest, never went to the police with what they knew. This of course backfired on them this past week. On November 7, 2011, both Tim Curley and Gary Schultz stepped down from their positions at Penn State University. After these two men stepped down President of Penn State, Graham Spanier, made a huge mistake by making this comment:
“The allegations about a former coach are troubling, and it is appropriate that they be investigated thoroughly. Protecting children requires the utmost vigilance.”
“With regard to the other presentments, I wish to say that Tim Curley and Gary Schultz have my unconditional support. I have known and worked daily with Tim and Gary for more than 16 year. I have complete confidence in how they have handled the allegations about a former University employee.”
Spanier failed to make any mention of how terrible he felt for the victims of Sandusky’s fifteen-year rampage. The only thing that this statement tells me is that he cares for what happens to his friends at this time, which is terrible for a president of a university’s image. As a public relations professional in the making, I would have recommended that he showed support for the victims and that Penn State was deeply sorry for what had been happening to them throughout the years.
On Wednesday November 9, 2011 all hell broke loose at Penn State University. Both Joe Paterno and Graham Spanier were fired from their positions at Penn State. Many students were upset because of Joe Paterno’s firing and caused a riot on the Penn State campus. I believe that both of these men had it coming to them. As of this moment, no one really knows what Paterno knew after McQueary brought the disturbing news of Sandusky’s dealings that night. As for Spanier, after making that distasteful comment and sticking with his friends instead of showing sympathy for the victims, he had it coming to him. McQueary was the last to be asked to resign from his position at Penn State University as of today.
As a public relations professional in the making, I would have to agree with the board of trustees for firing all of these men. They knew too much and did far too little to get the ball rolling on sending Sandusky to prison years ago. If they had done the right thing and had alerted the authorities when they had a chance, they might still have their jobs today.
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