Yesterday, on our drive down to the Outer Banks, we got stuck in a good deal of traffic. At one point, I had a car crawling past me on my left. I noticed the woman in the passenger seat give me a thumbs up as they crawled past us. I thought that was a little odd. As her car moved in front of ours, I realized why she'd done it. Her car had a Penn State Alumni Association license plate and a Happy Valley logo magnet. She was giving us the thumbs up in recognition of the two Penn State bumper stickers that adorn the back of our car, one for Hannah and one for Nick. That gesture made me realize what I've always felt is so special about Penn State -- the community that everyone associated with Penn State has created.
Right now, that community is divided. It's much like situations that occur in many other families -- an issue arises, two points of view are formed, with each strongly held. Debate ensues and there's a sense that common ground will never be found.
As I type this at 8AM on Sunday morning, Penn State is removing the Joe Paterno statue at Beaver Stadium. I understand why President Erickson wants to remove it. I can't argue with his belief that it could be viewed by some as a reminder of Jerry Sandusky's conduct, which continued for many years. But, you know what really annoys me about this? It's the way it's being done. Why a 7AM press release? Why Sunday? Why a fence to try and cover up their actions? Why not a live statement and an offer to field questions from reporters? Like releasing the 267-page Freeh report and having a press conference just one hour later, preventing anyone from actually having the time to read and comprehend it, this just rubs me the wrong way. As Nick just said, "That's lame." Perhaps Penn State was advised on how to go about this by the Irsay family.
The worst part of all this, to me, is President Erickson's attempt to explain why he's leaving the Paterno name on the campus library. As King Solomon taught us in Biblical times, you can't "split the baby." I don't understand how you can say that Joe Paterno is a symbol of all that's wrong with the world, a painful reminder of child abuse, and a representative of an attempt to "cover up" Jerry Sandusky's action and, at the same time, decide that it's OK to leave his name on the library because of all the great things he represents. It's got to be one or the other, President Erickson. Make the hard decision and tell us what you really believe.
This is where the magic happens.
