I have been proud to call myself a Penn Stater since 2005 when I began taking night classes at Penn State Abington. Despite serving six memorable years in the United States Navy, I never felt more proud of myself than in 2007 when I was inducted into the Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society – an honor that included my first ever trip to University Park at State College. My pride continued to swell later that same year when I could finally claim to be a Penn State graduate. And my pride grew even greater still when I learned I would be graduating with distinction.
Despite everything, my pride remains strong today.
Over the past couple of years, the sense of loyalty and belonging I felt to my alma mater has carried over to its football team – a sport I rarely paid much attention to aside from the occasional game I would catch here and there. That all changed last fall when I had the opportunity to go to Beaver Stadium for my first Penn State game, and only my second trip ever to State College. That particular game just so happened to be JoePa’s 400th win. It was a glorious experience I hope to never forget, and one that forever changed my opinion on what it means to be a fan of college football. This past fall I shared that experience with my Mom when I drove the five hours up to State College for a Homecoming weekend I will always remember sharing with her. My Mom became an instant fan, and although I’m sure she'll understandably be more of a quiet fan in the coming months, my loyalty to my school remains.
Despite everything, I am still a fan today.
I have read the opinions, blogs, tweets, updates, and the like from as many sources as I could find this week. I have read reports (yes, even that report) and felt like I’m sure the majority of other fans and alumni felt as they read them – disgusted, saddened, angry, shocked, and dumbfounded.
While I’ve had the time to process all the available information, I understand that an overwhelming amount of the public will not feel obligated to make the same effort and will rely upon their chosen media to provide the information they base their opinions. I can’t blame anyone not invested emotionally in this school to take the time to do otherwise. At the end of the day, so much blame is being tossed around and misplaced, that if those of us that are proud of our blue and white contribute to the turmoil, we are simply not living up to our name.
Because despite everything, We Are … Penn State.
For that statement to mean anything right now, we need to stand together, and be the fans, students, and alumni full of grace, kindness, and compassion we’ve become known for. The riots need to stop immediately. The anger needs to be replaced with a sobering humility that recognizes that we, as human beings, all have a responsibility in this and we have been given an opportunity that shouldn’t be missed. An opportunity to re-evaluate not just our University, but the social conditioning that is present within all of us.
There were a lot of missed opportunities discovered -- a High School wrestling coach that had an uncomfortable feeling, a High School Principal that also remembered questionable behavior, parents and educators that missed red flags, a Janitor that kept too quiet, an assistant that didn’t intervene – all adults, and all with the moral obligation to say or do more than what they did.
Not all of these missed opportunities were at Penn State, but we’ll take the blame. We need to take responsibility because we need to be the ones to help motivate change, not just at Penn State, but everywhere. Social experts from around the country have been quoted all week that reporting abuse of all kinds is rare, even sexual abuse, and even involving children. And therein lies the ultimate tragedy of this story: Rarely do we as individuals ever live up to the expectations we demand from our peers. So where does that leave the victims?
Hindsight is of course always 20/20, but we now have the opportunity to demand of ourselves to do better as human beings. To disengage the fear that has embedded itself in how we react to alarming social situations. Fear can no longer be an acceptable excuse to inaction. We must recondition ourselves to provide assistance when able. How many people would run in the other direction if they saw someone being mugged? How many people have heard a domestic dispute and turned up the radio or TV to drown out the noise? How many people have seen a situation that made them completely uncomfortable and did nothing?
Doing nothing can no longer be an option. We owe it to each other and to the next generation to lessen the desensitization that has corrupted our ability to be better people. This negative social conditioning is more important than football, and much bigger than a school.
This is without question a Penn State tragedy, and one that will define us for years to come. But it is also a human tragedy that should be examined, processed, and learned from by all of us.
