Joe Paterno: Anger over Joe Pa's Dismissal Will Not Fade Quietly

Joe Paterno has a strong fraction of supporters that are not quietly getting over the conditions of his dismissal. 

This fact was immediately apparent as the Penn State campus erupted in riots moments after the dismissal of Joe Paterno was announced. 

While protests have certainly progressed to a far less violent nature, they are still bountiful and passionate. 

This much became clear at three recent town hall meetings for Penn State alumni with Penn State president Rodney Erickson.

Town Hall Meetings

Sara Ganim of the Patriot-News reported on the details of town hall meetings that were dominated by concerns over the way Paterno's dismissal was handled.

Here is a sampling of the some of the questions/concerns voiced by alumni and provided by Ganim: 

“What you did to Paterno is unconscionable.”

“Paterno is single most important Penn Stater in the history of the university.”

“You are the president. Can you stand up and say Penn State was wrong? Can you?”

To the dismay of the crowd, Erickson routinely deflected these questions by stating that the board of trustees were his boss, and that they were the ones that made the Paterno decision. To the further dismay of the crowd, the board was not there to answer questions. 

However, they have since released the following statement, which was provided to us by Ganim. 

"

Given the nature of the serious allegations contained in the grand jury report and the extraordinary circumstances then facing the university, the board’s unanimous judgment was that coach Paterno could not be expected to continue to effectively perform his duties and that it was in the best interests of the university to make an immediate change in his status. 

 

"

The Final Verdict

The Penn State board made the best decision they could in a no win situation. Given the outrage over the serious and nearly impossible to digest allegations, they had no choice but to distance themselves from those involved. 

The depth of the allegations pointed to a culture at Penn State that placed the football program at such a high level that it allowed for something as serious as child molestation to be swept aside to protect the integrity of the football program. 

While Paterno is not facing any criminal charges for his actions the majority of public perception is that he should have done more. Paterno himself has admitted that he should have done more. 

In light of all of this, it is clear that Penn State had no choice but to distance themselves from their famous coach. 

Still, this is not going to be enough to appease his passionate throng of supporters. There are no statements that can be made that will ever appease their anger for the process that ended with Paterno being unceremoniously dumped as head coach. 

It is just another facet of this ugly ordeal that Penn State will have to try and move forward from.