Joe Paterno, Rest in Peace

     Joseph Vincent Paterno died today at the age of 85 in State College, Pennsylvania.  The winningest Division I college football coach in history was also famous as a supporter of academics.

     Paterno was born in 1926 in Brooklyn, New York into an Italian-American family.  He served in the Army during the Second World War and graduated from Brown University in 1950. 

     Pennsylvania State University named Paterno its Assistant Football Coach that year, where his former college coach was Head Coach.  Paterno succeeded him as Head Coach in 1966, winning 409 games over the course of his career, including many bowl games and winning two national championships (1982 and 1986) for the Penn State Nittany Lions.  He holds numerous coaching records and won many awards.

     Paterno was known for promoting academics, insisting that his athletes do well in school.  The successful results of his efforts have been measured.  Paterno's legacy across the United States in this regard alone has been enormous, as he became a model for what is expected of athletic coaches.  I can attest, for example, as a former School Director, that I voted to hire coaches in the Joe Paterno mold. 

     Paterno strongly supported philanthropic efforts, particularly ones that supported academics at Penn State.  He was a conservative who delivered a speech on behalf of his friend, George H.W. Bush at the 1988 Republican National Convention.  Paterno also spoke at an event during the Columbus Quincentenary in 1992 in Reading, Pennsylvania, which held one of the largest celebrations in the United States.  He reflected on his pride in his Italian heritage and the values it gave him.

     Despite his great professional and personal record, Paterno was dismissed as Penn State Head Coach in 2011, although he remained a professor at the school, because of an alleged child molestation incident involving a former assistant coach and a minor above the age of reason in 2002, which was one incident among a larger scandal involving that assistant coach.  Paterno was told of the incident (i.e. hearsay), although not of a specific crime, which he nevertheless relayed to campus officials, including one in charge of the campus police.  Those officials failed to follow through adequately.  The State Attorney General's office declared that the Penn State Head Coach had acted in accordance with the law.  Nevertheless, the University's Board of Trustees relieved him as Head Coach, in part because of its concern that he would no longer be able to perform his duties effectively because of the scandal. 

     Paterno's reputation has been sullied unfairly by those who misrepresent the significance of the scandal.  People have a duty to report a crime (i.e. if they are witnesses), but not hearsay (what someone else says he witnessed), especially if what one hears does not specify any crime.  We are not responsible for the failure of officials to perform their duties, as we are not expected to follow up with them.  Otherwise, a much higher standard applies to one specific type of crime, at least, than for any other type of crime, both in terms of reporting and in what further responsibility one has to follow up.  It would be a scary proposition that witnesses and even those who learn of hearsay would be held responsible for inaction by law enforcement. 

     It is difficult not to see typical left-wing iconoclasm directed at Paterno, as the image of someone, especially a Catholic conservative, who promoted the value of education and character, must not be allowed by liberals to stand.  It is the duty of conservatives to defend other conservatives who promote virtue whenever they come under assault from the left, but it is an even greater duty to stand for the virtues themselves.

     Joe Paterno successfully coached thousands of athletes and inspired countless other students, athletes and coaches.  May his legacy continue to inspire people to achieve academic and moral success.