A Student Response

Read this and thought it was worthy of a re-post for BSD.

We are the Penn State student body. We are Penn State. For the past five days we have watched our administrators release cryptic statements and cancel press conferences, seemingly on the run from a scandal that must be faced head on.

We, the students, the soul of this great university, have had enough. This is our statement.

Just like the rest of you, we were blindsided by the allegations brought forth by the grand jury's report. Before last week, many of us had no idea who Jerry Sandusky was. Now we are all too familiar with this man. We have watched as the scandal permeated our school, reaching our athletic director, our president, even our beloved coach. Dark clouds hang over Happy Valley.

As we continue to digest the news that unceasingly piles on, a new resolve is setting in. A resolve not to be defined by the weakness of a few men. Those who are alleged to commit the most heinous of crimes, those who sought to cover it up, they are not Penn State.

Penn State is made of students. Students who cheer at football games, students who raise money to fight cancer, students who research the largest problems facing humanity. Students whose integrity was under cut by the actions of a few. Students who refuse to sit silent while our leaders allow themselves to be hamstrung by legal paranoia.

With heavy hearts, we will scrape up Penn State's tattered dignity. Together we will stand. Together we will shed a tear for the victims of these terrible acts, the victims our administration seems intent to ignore. Our heads will be held high, for with a lowered chin we cannot look to the future. A line of our Alma Mater reads "May no act of ours bring shame". A few men seem to have forgotten those lyrics, but we have not. No, to us it is emblazoned on our conscience brighter than ever, an ideal that we will never stop living by.

To close, we would like the public and members of the media to remember. Remember the children, the true victims of this sordid affair. Remember us, the students. Remember that we are not Jerry Sandusky and did not fail to report his transgressions. We are 40,000 young adults, hurt by betrayal and in love with our school and the ideals that it stands for. We are ashamed of our leaders and hopeful for our future. We are Penn State.

For the glory,
The Penn State Nittany Lions