The Sandusky problem is a Penn State problem

You don’t have to be a college football fan to recall the nightmarish 2011 scandal at Penn State University: Some brave souls finally had the courage to reveal that Jerry Sandusky, a former assistant football coach, had sexually abused many boys over a period of decades. A jury later convicted Sandusky on 45 counts of sexual abuse and sentenced him to 30 to 60 years in prison.

The Penn State board of trustees also fired legendary head coach Joe Paterno for his complicity in the cover-up. I always doubted Paterno did what he did with any malicious intent, but I still believe what I wrote in 2011: Even good men have to pay the consequences for their actions.

I held my breath on Friday when I saw Joe Paterno and Jerry Sandusky trending on Twitter. “What now?” I thought.

It turns out that Paterno, who died in 2012, will likely receive back 111 wins the NCAA stripped as part of sanctions against the school—once again making him major college football’s all-time leader in victories with 409. As I scrolled through tweets, I found that rather than being universally embarrassed, many Penn State supporters cheered the move.

“BREAKING: You can be pleased with the repeal of the consent degree [sic] and still find Jerry Sandusky to be a deplorable, life-ruining monster,” tweeted Carolyn Lasky, who identifies herself as a Penn State grad.

If only it were that easy. Many naive Penn State fans continue to view the scandal as a Sandusky problem, not a Penn State problem, but there is good reason three former school administrators are scheduled to stand trial for, among other things, perjury, obstruction of justice, and failure to report child abuse.

According to former FBI director Louis Freeh’s report, Paterno and former Penn State president Graham Spanier, senior vice president Gary Shultz, and athletic director Tim Curley showed “total disregard” for the safety of Sandusky’s victims. Up to its highest levels, Penn State chose to protect its own brand instead of young boys—many of whom were sexually abused on campus property.

The school’s board of trustees kept that tradition alive when it unanimously accepted terms of an agreement that would restore Paterno’s wins. If trustees had true moral courage, they would refuse to take back the wins, even if they were offered to them.

Penn State apologists are quick to point out the university will still have to pay a $60 million fine, but that’s a pittance for a school whose athletic department alone generates more than $100 million annually. What Penn State (along with many other big universities) needs is a drastic culture change. That doesn’t come from a $60 million fine most people will never feel or remember.

Culture change happens when you hit an organization where it hurts—in this case wins. Do you wonder where that 111 number came from? It’s the number of wins Paterno racked up after the first victim came forward to police in 1998, and the despicable cover-up began. (The NCAA also plans to restore one other win from 2011 that came after Paterno had been fired.)

The NCAA last levied the death penalty on a school in 1987 after Southern Methodist University paid 13 players $61,000 from a slush fund—an incident widely regarded as the worst scandal in college sports history. In 2012, the NCAA reportedly considered giving Penn State’s football program the death penalty, but we can now see that was all for show. It has since restored Penn State’s suspended scholarships, cut in half the school’s four-year postseason ban, and is now poised to restore Paterno’s wins.

I guess a few sexually abused boys aren’t worth nearly as much as $61,000.