How PSU Can Begin to Heal

I thought it was crazy, almost ridiculous, how most news stations were talking about how "PSU can begin to heal" the day after the sex abuse scandal hit the news. The university and town of State College were way too immersed in the scandal at the time to even think about healing. But now, a couple weeks later, although new details are still being released, the PSU community can think about how they are going to heal while still remembering the victims and ensuring that something like this never happens again.

An article on CNN, written about a week ago by Jeffrey Pollard entitled "How Paterno can Promote Healing," focuses on Paterno's role in the helping to heal the PSU community. First, Paterno should speak to the students whether it be releasing a statement or holding a news conference, and make them recognize that he is not the victim in this situation and that students who took part in the riots after his firing only made the school look worse. Second, Paterno should take responsibility for his actions and apologize for them- he already stated that he made a huge mistake in staying silent and he should continue to reiterate that. Third, he should speak to everyone, not just the PSU community and urge people to report child abuse to higher authorities.

Paterno's legacy does not have to be tarnished by this scandal and shouldn't be if he promotes healing within the Penn State community. As Pollard states, "Paterno's finest hour, which would facilitate healing for child sexual abuse victims, greater public education and more offenders' being locked up could still be ahead of him." Let's hope and pray that it is.