Penn State Removes a Symbol of Past, Attempting to Move Forward

July 23, 2012 0 Comments

Last week we posted an informative blog about negligent supervision. Negligent supervision could be a basis for civil law suits against Penn State because key administrative staff members failed to report incidents of child abuse when they allegedly knew it was happening. Beth Burgess, an attorney at The Law Office of Thomas G. Buchanan recently spoke with Jack Heinritz of KARN radio about the implications of negligence in the Penn State scandal. To hear her comments click here: Beth Burgess Radio Comments.

Joe Paterno’s statue has since been removed from the campus of Penn State. The statue was mostly shielded from view Sunday by a fence and blue tarp. Somewhat hidden from the sight of the public eye, it was carried away to storage. While this was once a symbol of pride, the covering up and removal of the statue seem like an appropriate symbol of the tragic result of another cover up. Unfortunately, those who allegedly knew children were in danger did nothing to stop or prevent harm.

The NCAA announced today that the university would be fined $60 million dollars and the former coach would be stripped of 13 years of wins and the title of winningest coach. Ed Ray, the chair of the NCAA’s executive committee, said this at the announcement of the fines:

“The historically unprecedented actions by the NCAA are warranted by the
conspiracy of silence maintained at highest level of the university with
reckless and callous disregard for children.”

The sanctions are controversial because of how quickly they were issued. Many people feel like that the decision could have been negotiated more favorably for the University. Whether the decision is fair to alumni, current students or the Board of Trustees, the message is clear; our nation places utmost value on the safety of children. Child abuse of any type should not be tolerated.