I'm a 5th year senior at Penn State, but I've bled blue and white long before my enrollment.  The Penn State Football program has meant a great deal to me since my first game at Beaver Stadium in 1993 and this news has deeply saddened/angered me beyond words of explanation.

But despite the number of people who take a fall for this (and rightfully so), I refuse to change my perception about a University that has provided me with some of the greatest, and most important, times of my life.

On football Saturdays there is a lot more going on than the presence of Joe Paterno, Tim Curley, and Graham Spanier.  We see 40,000+ students band together.  We watch 60,000+ others fill the seats of Beaver Stadium.  State College becomes the 3rd largest city in PA because a horde of fans make the trip to SC to share their love for the University and be around others who can reciprocate that love.  Then, after all the preparation and festivities, we watch young men (18-22 years old) play their hearts out on the field in a sport they love; and they do it for each other, for us, and for the university.

I am upset at the number of people who are ready to give up on Penn State.  Penn State is not just football.  Penn State is the collection of students, alumni, Facutly, staff, and fans (University Park, Abington, Altoona, Beaver, Berks, Brandywine, DuBois, Erie, Fayette, Greater Allegheny, Harrisburg, Hazleton, Lehigh VAlley, Mont Alto, New Kensington, Schuylkill, Shenango, Wilkes-Barre, Scranton, and York) who believe/believed that this university provides the opportunities to develop and mature as professionals and individuals.  Along the way, great things are accomplished (THON is only 1 example).

I have read any and all articles on the situation. I tirelessly scoured this website yesterday to read opinions on the matter.  I will be taking a break from BSD so that I can enjoy these beautiful fall days on Penn State's campus. I'm no expert on anything, but I would like to say this:

Jerry Sandusky, Tim Curley, Garry Schultz, and Graham Spanier did not write the Alma Mater.  Believe it or not, neither did Joe Paterno.

I will always believe in Penn State.

For the Glory.