EDITORIAL: Seeing the Dark Side of School Spirit

We at The Ram admire school spirit.  We respect a good football team that fosters that spirit.  We support a sense of pride in one's university.  Except when all of these things combine to produce an environment in which students riot against the firing of a legendary football coach who admittedly failed to do everything he could in response to allegations of child abuse.

The events of the past week at Pennsylvania State University demonstrate the incredible sense of spirit that the students have for their school, which is something to be emulated.  Unfortunately, student outrage at the news of Coach Joe Paterno's dismissal also demonstrated a blind, emotional reaction, and a culture in which football seems important enough to look past accusations of a repulsive sexual assault. 

While we realize that most students at Penn State would never directly condone child abuse, their reaction against the Board of Trustees' decision to fire the popular coach, known to most as "Joe Pa," sends a message that borders on uncompassionate.  Certainly, Paterno himself was not the one who abused children, and his dedication to the university and to the football program during his career should count for something, but Paterno admitted that he did not do everything in his power to stop the abuse.

"With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more," he said in a statement.

Hopefully, with hindsight, the students of Penn State will come to understand that their university cannot and should not continue to employ people who permit such serious allegations to pass without an equally serious response.  Telling a higher-up about what is going on is the first step in a case like this.  It is not sufficient, however, when said higher-up fails to investigate adequately.  As a cog in the wheel of a university's bureaucratic hierarchy, perhaps, it is enough to transfer responsibility to the next person in the chain of the command and hope for the best.  As a human being, it is not.

We atThe Ram think that the students' reaction was misguided, but we understand from where the initial reaction arose. To sympathize with the administration is more difficult.  The dismissal of Penn State University President Graham Spanier highlights the severity of the errors committed by every official in his administration who knew something about the allegations and failed to pursue them to a greater extent. We deplore a university administration that fails to stand up for the victims of abuse, regardless of the public relations challenges that doing so could pose to a very popular program. 

It does not matter whether the accusation is against a member of the maintenance staff or an assistant football coach: administrators, faculty and staff have a duty to report criminal offenses, as Fordham Associate Vice President of Safety and Security John Carroll reminded the Fordham community in an email dated Nov. 11.  The Ram applauds Fordham's efforts to emphasize the gravity of these responsibilities. 

We stand in solidarity with the victims of child abuse and with the Penn State community as it works to reshape the culture that produced a failure to act.  We commend Fordham's proactive response and hope that these events prompt greater awareness and prevent such tragedy in the future.

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The Ram's editorial's are selected on a weekly basis, and are meant to reflect the editorial board's view on a particular issue.