Penn State must shut down its football program

Penn State administrative building (George Chriss, Wikimedia Commons) The report by Louis Freeh on the Penn State University pedophilia scandal finally makes clear what happened and why, and it also makes clear that there is only one clean path forward for Penn State. This scandal happened not because of one lone psychopath, or because a few well-intentioned Penn State leaders misunderstood what was happening, or did know what was happening but didn't understand how to deal with it; the Freeh report makes clear that the highest ranking authorities at Penn State did know what was happening, deliberately chose not to contact appropriate authorities, and deliberately chose to protect the perpetrator of horrific crimes rather than those subject to them, and they did it all because they wanted to protect Penn State football rather than the innocent, abused children.

This scandal and these horrors happened because the culture of football at Penn State had come to mean more to the school's leadership than did basic standards of humanity and morality, and the only way for Penn State to regain its human and moral footing is for it to shut down its football program, as a statement to the victims, the students and alumni and fans, and all humanity. When something as important as the safety and well-being of children is superseded by athletic prowess, the money it earns, and the false sense of prestige it imparts, it is time to start over, from scratch, not in the realm of athletics but in the realm of humanity and morality.

To his great credit, Freeh began his statement where this entire horror should have begun and ended:

We are here today because a terrible tragedy was allowed to occur over many years at Penn State University, one in which many children were repeatedly victimized and gravely harmed. Our hearts and prayers are with the many children ' now young men ' who were the victims of a now convicted serial pedophile.

I want to remind everyone here, and those watching this press conference, of the need to report child sexual abuse to the authorities. In Pennsylvania you can report child sexual abuse to the Department of Public Welfare's ChildLine. That number ' which is on the screen before you ' is (800) 932-0313. It is our hope that this report and subsequent actions by Penn State will help to bring every victim some relief and support.

This is not about football or a once legendary football program or a once legendary football coach, this is about a failure to protect children from a predatory pedophile. The entire leadership structure at Penn State failed the most basic of tests of human and moral values. It did so precisely because it valued its football program more than it valued the safety and well-being of the children.

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