Penn State scandal shows what leadership isn't
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Near the end of a "A Few Good Men,'' a baffled Marine just convicted of a crime exclaims, "What did we do wrong? We did nothing wrong.''
"Yeah, we did,'' his co-defendant answers calmly. "We were supposed to fight for the people who couldn't fight for themselves.''
That cinematic coda serves for the events in State College this past week, where the leaders of the university that bears our commonwealth's name and no small part of its honor were summarily ousted.
Legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno was fired Wednesday night, not for what he did but for what he did not do. Many of the student faithful promptly rioted in his behalf.
It was a most inglorious end to an unparalleled coaching career, yet there could hardly be a more spectacular way for so many to entirely miss the point.
Yes, as coach Paterno's supporters say, he committed no crime. Mr. Paterno is, however, a leader, one who has generally been acknowledged as the most powerful man on campus for decades. When there are crises, great leaders lead. Mr. Paterno did not lead.
We can sympathize with Mr. Paterno for the position he was in. A graduate assistant and former Penn State quarterback, Mike McQueary, says he told the coach in March 2002 that he'd seen Mr. Paterno's old friend and former assistant, Jerry Sandusky, sexually assaulting a young boy in the showers of the football building the night before.
What happened next or, more precisely, what didn't happen for the next 91/2 years, is the reason Mr. Paterno's stint as head coach abruptly ended in his 46th season.
Mr. Paterno didn't go to the police. He did the least he could do. According to the grand jury report, he waited a day to call his ostensible boss and another of his former players, athletic director Tim Curley. Mr. Paterno relayed that Mr. McQueary had told him he'd seen Mr. Sandusky "fondling or doing something of a sexual nature to a young boy.''
Already playing out like a game of telephone gone horrifically awry, this sequence of non-events would get worse. About a week and a half later, Mr. McQueary was called to a meeting with Mr. Curley and Senior Vice President for Finance and Business Gary Schultz, who assured him they would look into the matter.
First Published November 13, 2011 12:00 am
