Challenging the NCAA

The Governor of Pennsylvania is suing the NCAA for its incredibly harsh penalties against Penn State in reaction to the Jerry Sandusky child rape and molestation case. Gov. Corbett who was the Attorney-General who started the investigation. He says that the penalties against Penn State do not "punish" the wrong-doers but rather the current students and athletes, businesses and the residents of Pennsylvania.

I have a hunch he is right. There needs to be a better way to deal with this than to strip all current students and athletes of football. There has to be a better way for Penn State to be held accountable as an institution and to call them into responsibility to prevent this from happening again and to make restitution.

Yes, the University was very negligent in the handling of the case from the word "Go!"

Yes, Joe Paterno (a remarkable coach who began to believe his own PR) was very negligent in his role in the fiasco.

And of course, Jerry Sandusky deserves to be locked up for the rest of his unnatural life. And then some.

But let's be real. The students who are there today, the football players who came to Penn State to play football, should not be penalized. Yes, there are some real MAJOR issues in the NFL Semi-pro farm system college football world. But don't make Penn State the only scapegoat. Lots needs to be done.

But not at the expense of those who have had no part in it and are probably as repulsed by it as the rest of us.

With Sadness and Anger

Penn State.

Happy Valley.

Nittany Lions

Joe Paterno

But alas, also Jerry Sandusky.

It is the story that will not go away because it is too awful to go away.

It is the story that brought down an icon and "football god" because the icon was found to be less than he was thought to be or less than he was made to be.

It is the story of victims ignored, warnings hidden, red flags too numerous to count being overlooked.

It is the story of a grandiosity at work, and probably addiction.

Never underestimate the power of hidden addictions to bring down even the greatest.

A wise recovering priest once said to me that when anyone came to him with a problem he assumed addiction until proven otherwise...

and then he continued to suspect it.

Jerry Sandusky had a serious addiction which at the very least has now become public through his horrific actions.

Like good co-addicts and enablers, Penn State and Joe Paterno made sure he was kept out of the spotlight which only allowed him to continue. No one thought about the feelings of the children. No one ever does in times like that. No one thought about the parents who were deceived into disbelieving their own children. the only thing that was considered was the reputation of the institution, the money-flow of donations, the cash cow of Big Time American Football.

In addicted families and organizations the guiding principles are always:

• Don't talk
• Don't trust
• Don't feel

Which can easily be summarized as keep your mouth shut and your head in the sand. And above all, don't let anyone on the outside know about what is really happening.

As I have written before, I am a native Pennsylvanian, growing up but 50 miles from State College. It was not the icon that it has become, Paterno started as head coach when I was a senior in high school. Names and places from my childhood have been brought onto the national stage in ways that no one would have imagined.

But after years of dealing with addiction and addictive behaviors of all kinds, none of it comes as a surprise. No, I would not have expected the depth of depravity of a Jerry Sandusky, but the responses of those around him are in no way unusual or unexpected. When something like this is happening in a big name place by big name people, the roots of the cover-up will always go deep and wide.

Penn State has been given a difficult lesson. They will soon really close ranks and hope the fallout is limited. They will work as hard as they can to make sure this doesn't happen again. And it probably won't. At Penn State. At least for a long while.

Perhaps for the rest of us the willingness to stand up to icon building behaviors will be a lesson. Perhaps we won't be silent to protect a reputation or our skin. Perhaps we will think twice before turning aside from injustice and victimizing.

Maybe we can even think first of those being victimized before all else.

Human nature- and the nature of addictive behaviors- is such that we will probably not be successful at that as often as we should. But at least we have to commit ourselves to trying.

In Memoriam:Joe Paterno

It all happened so quickly this fall and winter. He was still riding high, the greatest, winningest, high-quality college football coach. Then it all fell apart.

Jerry Sandusky and the sex-abuse scandal.

JoePa fired.

Now he's gone.

Hopefully, in looking back from the point of football history, he will be remembered for what he did...

And as a cautionary tale, for what he didn't do. May we never forget that to take the extra step when protecting others is essential. Power, ethical and moral as well as all other kinds, demands our vigilance and self-awareness.

Over the many years Joe Paterno had that. He lost it and paid the price.

May he now rest in peace.

Were You As "Icked" Out As I Was?

I was busy watching the Packer game on Monday evening but managed to still be grossed out by Bob Costas' interview with former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky. Hearing his voice as I watched the news on Tuesday evening sent chills up my spine. He was convinced he was in the right- completely innocent. Which, by law he is until proven guilty. But listening carefully it was very clear this was someone who just doesn't get what's falling down on him and around him. AND that it IS his behavior that has caused it.

It was certainly more than 10-12 years ago, the time frame of some of the accusations, that I knew- and was trained in- the way you should and should not act around and with young people. DO NOT shower alone with them. In fact, don't be alone with them. We in the church and the people in the Boy Scouts were in the midst of serious training for all of us about these issues. NO MATTER WHAT, don't put yourself in a position like that. EVER.

Be the adult! Absolutely, positively, act your age. You do not, repeat DO NOT, do horse play in the shower with a young person. It is extremely unsafe. It is NOT being an adult role model. ACT YOUR AGE.

I find it incredible that Sandusky can, now, all these years later with all the controversy surrounding him, JUSTIFY these behaviors. These are just as out of bounds as what he is charged with. True, they are not illegal, but they are just as outside the realm of what is appropriate. NO QUESTIONS! These are big trouble in and of themselves.

Yet Sandusky easily threw them out as okay behaviors for an adult coach with obviously underage boys. Don't give me any of that crap that you "enjoy young people." Don't let some lawyer convince you that he is just some jock who is just a big kid. The lawyer is, in essence telling us that being a [dumb] jock is an excuse for being stupid, unwise, and involved in inappropriate behavior.

I don't buy it.

Sandusky did more harm than good to his own case. Did his lawyer even know this was going to happen? If so, he may be mal-practicing law. If not, he should get out before he is in the midst of something far more sinister than he realizes.

The look on Bob Costas' face spoke volumes. He could not believe what he was hearing.

Neither could I.

And it will be used against Sandusky. As it should.

Penn State Reflections (4): In the Depths of the Soul

The Penn State tragedy that exploded last week really kicked me into a passionate week of writing. This is the fourth post (plus yesterday's reflection on the Gospel) that I have worked on. The words just keep on coming, bubbling out of anger and sadness, fear and grief. I sat glued to the TV news each evening as they reported from State College, a town I knew growing up. They talked about Happy Valley and Beaver Stadium. Places I knew intimately have been brought into the headlines of a whole world.

Then I was reading another article and another location jumped off the computer screen. Victim 1 (as the first reporting victim was referred to in the Grand Jury report) was a student at a "Clinton County" school. It was no longer the 50 mile trip to State College from my home. Now it was across Pine Creek, in my stomping ground. There are only 37,000 people in the whole county and only three public school districts, including my home district shared with neighboring Lycoming County in the east where I grew up.

It was like having a friend identified as the victim. The victims involved were probably not people I knew, but I knew the land and the territory. I have come to know that land and territory, geography, is very much part of who we are. Reading Clinton County in the report was home, personal.

It was no longer about the great university having its name dragged into the dirt, or an iconic figure like Joe Paterno being pulled down. Now it was the every day person, the person on the street. And worse, it was the powerless and lost being pushed even further away by a man who sought to use power and position to do unthinkable things to children.

The Lock Haven Express reported on their own investigations that may even implicate the school district in what looks more and more like a cover-up:

[S]ources said when the family questioned that outcome, they were told by a Keystone administrator that Sandusky was a "great man" and they should go home and think about it before taking further action.
--Link

Don't believe for a second that any of this was about sex. This is NOT A SEX SCANDAL. Rape is not about sex- it is about power. It is a weapon used by conquering armies exerting hegemony and power. It is used by men to subjugate others to their own desires, no, to use others as pawns for their own desires. Rape of a child is the most cowardly act of power. Victim 1 said to his mother that you couldn't "say no to Jerry." It is the most degrading way to put someone else in their place. It is violence against the life and soul of the person being raped. It is the theft of childhood and personhood of the victim.

I find that I am angered at some great depths by this because it has hit so close to home by men and institutions who have attempted to be moral and honest and filled with integrity. These great awful events tear at the fabric of who we are. That is why it has been the top of the news. It is finally and most destructively attempted murder of the life spirit, the soul of hope.

The Sunday Lectionary: Keeping Trust

With all the Penn State news this past week I was not surprised to see the assigned Gospel for this week was fitting. If I had thought about it I would have been even less surprised. These last two weeks of the Church Year are about the end of times, the final judgement. And judgement (all kinds and the lack of it) have been part of what we have hearing all week. So here is this week's judgement Gospel.

Matthew 25:14-30

14“For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; 15to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. 17In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. 18But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. 20Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.’ 21His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ 22And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.’ 23His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ 24Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; 25so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ 26But his master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? 27Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. 28So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. 29For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. 30As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

The talents this week were the young lives entrusted to Jerry Sandusky and others. The talents were the young lives he said he was there to help. The talents were the university students who have now been brought into the midst of something not of their doing.

When the owner comes back and asks Sandusky and Paterno, university officials  and non-profit leaders what they did with the talents entrusted to them they will hide their heads in shame. They will stand convicted by their actions, their lack of actions or just the desire to stand by and ignore what was happening.

Hear the prophetic words where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth...

coming first from the victims.  Listen. Listen. They call to all of us.

Penn State Refelctions (3)- The Dilemma of Ethics

Thursday I said the following in a post on the scandal at Penn State:

But the cautionary tale in all this is far deeper than the pain of watching Paterno in pain, losing his dream to a sick, VERY SICK man who was more interested in satisfying his own sick drives. It is far deeper than seeing a grand and prestigious university be undermined by authorities who felt it better to hide the truth than care about the safety of children.

The message is far more than football or universities or even the law. It is far more important than even a legendary individual like Paterno.

Very simply the message is about our humanity and our willingness to be more humane than we tend to be. The message is about taking care of our children and ourselves with dignity and respect. The message is that the letter of the law is not enough.

A couple days ago I was leading an in-service on an ethics presentation I have done. I commented to my colleagues that for me the theme of ethics isn't about what is legal or legal. It is often more about what "should" be done. In my field of counseling when we get into questions of ethics it often revolves around the legal stuff- the relationships we are not to have with clients, not taking advantage of power positions to take advantage of others.

Those are essential topics of ethics, of course, and I will certainly emphasize those in the courses I lead or teach on ethics. We must not avoid them. But neither can we avoid the more important issues of protection of the vulnerable or even going the extra mile, beyond the letter of the law, to do the next right thing.

As I was talking I ad libbed into the Penn State situation. I realized that under the legal issues and incredible sickness of the perpetrator, this is what makes it even more devastating.

Sadly this is where I fear Joe Paterno got lost 10 years ago. He admitted so in his retirement statement on Wednesday.

This is a tragedy. It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more.

It is that "more" to have done where ethics can take over. An ethical standard short-circuited by following the letter of the law is unethical. Not illegal, but morally questionable. Paterno, as a man of integrity, knows that today. If he didn't learn it before Wednesday, he learned it when the Trustees of the university stood up with their own integrity. It was seen again last evening at the candlelight vigil and today by both teams on the field.

The leaders of the university who didn't even go as far as Paterno are even more morally questionable. The parallels between this situation and the scandals of the Catholic Church over the past decades are unmistakeable. It is in that leadership position that we have all been let down, blind-sided, taken advantage of by people who should have been better than that. They knew better, but were afraid to do what  might hurt them or their image or their institution. They believed on some level that their security, their position, their institution, was above the law. Or worse, that they were in the position to say what the law should or shouldn't do.

They and their institution and their "brand" and their security and safety was worth more than the safety and security of some young men, boys, unable to defend themselves and left even more defenseless by the actions of these self-important men.

What happened to these boys by Coach Sandusky was reprehensible, hateful, shameful and sinful.

What happened to these boys by the leadership of Penn State is just as reprehensible as they had the chance to do something and didn't.

I am aware as I write this of the anger in the depths of my soul for what has happened. I too- we all- have been abandoned by these non-leaders. We have been robbed of hope and dignity and trust in our public institutions. Again. Over and over it has happened- and will happen. I cannot help but think of two of my personal heroes from World War II who faced an evil greater than this.

First was Dietrich Bonhoeffer, outstanding theologian and courageous human being who participated in a plot to kill Hitler. He wanted to stop the insanity and destruction the Nazi regime was bringing on the world.  He lost his life in a Nazi concentration camp for it.

Second was Pastor Martin Niemoller, a Lutheran pastor who stood up to the Nazi aggression. He didn't lose his life, thankfully, but stood up for what was right.

In situations far more dangerous, personally dangerous, than Penn State football, these two men did what was right. Against great odds they did the next right thing.

Some non-leaders at Penn State felt they had more to lose by doing what was right- so they didn't. The results, when finally found out, had far more destruction to far more people than would have happened ten years ago. And the original victims continue to be victimized.

I am sure that the story, as it continues to unfold, will continue to contain revelations we don't like to hear. There will be attempts to spin the story. There will be stuff that makes us repel in disgust and anger. Somewhere, I hope, we will find some of the ethically courageous who finally thought the time was long past when something right was to be done. Even if we never know their names, we can be grateful that they decided to honor the victims and not the victimizers.

May we all learn that lesson. Again.

More Reflections on Penn State

It keeps going around in my head. It's like a friend has died, or perhaps worse than that- a friend has committed suicide or a combination suicide-homicide. The old friend is Penn State. And Joe Paterno has been Penn State since I was a freshman in college.

As I said the other day I grew up just about 50 miles from Penn State. I applied there for college and was accepted but chose a small college in the southeastern part of the state. But the Nittany Lion has strong history and gets into your blood.

Over the years since I lived in Pennsylvania the "brand" Penn State has grown and increased in stature and quality. Sitting in the "wilds" of central Pennsylvania, far from big cities, it was its own world, but one that produced great academics and great football. When one said that it always came back to Paterno, JoePa. He pushed academics and integrity and honesty. Perhaps, though, in the final analysis Penn State's central PA isolation and the legendary stature of Joe Pa was what finally led to his and the U's undoing.

In the end Penn State and its "brand" image and the power and money of Football proved greater than JoePa. He was run over by the effects of the juggernaut he helped attain that stature. Hide things, hush them up, circle the wagons, protect!

Paterno's statement yesterday which I posted here was one of the most painfully sad and desperately painful statements a public person like Paterno has ever written. The cynics may say that it was a way of saving face or of short-circuiting the inevitable or that he had a good speech writer. But that statement was Joe Paterno. It was the kind of statement a man of his integrity and spirit would want people to read and say "Yes! That's Joe Pa."

But it was also Joe the Powerful. He was a man who could refuse the suggestion of his bosses that it was time to retire. It was also Joe the Powerful who wanted to go out his own way and take the power and control from the hands of the Trustees. Perhaps for the first time in a very, very long time, they stood up and took their place and not bow to Paterno.

But the cautionary tale in all this is far deeper than the pain of watching Paterno in pain, losing his dream to a sick, VERY SICK man who was more interested in satisfying his own sick drives. It is far deeper than seeing a grand and prestigious university be undermined by authorities who felt it better to hide the truth than care about the safety of children.

The message is far more than football or universities or even the law. It is far more important than even a legendary individual like Paterno.

But that's for Saturday's post.

For today I mourn and try to wrap my head around a world spinning off its axis. Not for me, but for the victims and their families. Not for the disgraced coach or athletic director but for the hope, now shattered for so many. I mourn because there was this unthinking riot that followed Paterno's firing but no one, NO ONE, stood up in anger for the victims.

Oh how the mighty have fallen.

Let us lift the children harmed by the mighty.

When a child's spirit's broken
And feels all hope is gone
God help them find the strength to carry on

But with hope and faith
Yeah, we can understand
All God's children need is love
And us to hold their little hands

Hallelujah, hallelujah, let us all love one another
Hallelujah, hallelujah, make all our hearts blind to color
Hallelujah, hallelujah, God bless the child who suffers
--Shania Twain

Joe Paterno's Statement

STATE COLLEGE, Pa., Nov. 9, 2011 -- I am absolutely devastated by the developments in this case. I grieve for the children and their families, and I pray for their comfort and relief.

I have come to work every day for the last 61 years with one clear goal in mind: To serve the best interests of this university and the young men who have been entrusted to my care. I have the same goal today.

That's why I have decided to announce my retirement effective at the end of this season. At this moment the Board of Trustees should not spend a single minute discussing my status. They have far more important matters to address. I want to make this as easy for them as I possibly can.

This is a tragedy. It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more.

My goals now are to keep my commitments to my players and staff and finish the season with dignity and determination. And then I will spend the rest of my life doing everything I can to help this University.

More thoughts will come from me. For now, the sadness of seeing this happen, first to the victims and then, because of his own human failings, to Joe Paterno.

Penn State Football Under the Gun

I grew up about 50 miles from Penn State and have always had a soft spot in my heart for them and their incredible football history. Even after becoming a Midwesterner and a Badger fan, the Nittany Lions were one of my teams. Yes, at times, I have believed that Joe Paterno, their seemingly ageless antiquity of a coach, would and should retire, but about now it may be clear why he hasn't?

It has been making news that one of the former coaches, the Athletic Director and a University official are under serious investigation for the former coach's sexual abuse of boys. The others are being investigated for hiding what they knew and not reporting it. Even JoePa seems to have gotten his hands a little dirty for not having reported what he may have known to law enforcement.

Sad. Very Sad!

I almost don't know what to say, actually. The story will continue to develop and will become old news, of course. People have resigned. Many are starting to call for Paterno's and the U President's  resignations. Fingers will point. And a number of young men who were abused may never get the justice they deserve. These stories are never pretty- and lots of people get hurt. But in the end the saddest is that the victims of the abuse in the first place often end up being hurt even more. In the charges and counter-charges, the attempts to spin and keep a storied University's VALUABLE football program from being tainted, you never know what might occur.

Whether it's Clarence Thomas, Herman Cain or football in Happy Valley, the powerful and important tend to slip through. I hope we don't forget the victims.