PSU and the Evil Within Its Walls: Blowing the Whistle, Following Up

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." (Edmund Burke)

This is international news right now: Penn State University had a boy-raping scandal that came to certain people's attention more than a decade ago...and little was done. Nothing was said. All that dirty business was basically brushed aside.

People are shocked by this--shocked by the cover up, shocked by the many years that passed while PSU admin knew rapes were happening in a locker room and no substantial legal action was taken.

I wonder: How many people, if they saw a 10 year old (or younger) boy taking it up the rear in the showers of a college locker room, would honestly say or do nothing? I hope no one would remain silent and impassive after witnessing that. Because the rape of child is an appalling image--and an even worse reality. 

Someone at PSU said something, but only after thinking about it and waiting. The whistle blower was reportedly terrified to speak, and to a certain extent, that is understandable (and yet, in the case of abuse of a child, it is not). Obviously, the witness worried that he would lose his job for daring to report what he saw. The man knocking at the boy's back door, after all, was a really important football coach.

I say, who cares how powerful or rich or  important the rapist (or any evil-doer) was? What he did was wrong. It needed to stop. 

Yet, in every case like this, a balance has to be reached: Standing up for the powerless while hoping to protect oneself. 

This man who initially spoke up tried to do the right thing. Whistle blowers tend to have it rough, but it doesn't mean that a moral person, a good person, can stay quiet when he or she witnesses evil. Morality doesn't work that way, and just because something is hard to do doesn't mean it shouldn't be done.

Later, a much more powerful person, or as some reports have it, "the most powerful man in the state of Pennsylvania" (Joe Paterno) tried to do the right thing by reporting the sex crimes. Except that he was too vague and said the assistant coach was "doing something of a sexual nature." 

Is anal rape "something," or is it "anal rape?" Let's be clear about our terminology...words do make a difference!

Problem is, Paterno didn't report the "something" to the right people (police). He just mentioned it to one or two PSU admin. He also didn't follow up to see if anything had been done--although I could see why he might assume that if HE said something, action would be taken. It wasn't. 

http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/karen_heller/20111109_Karen_Heller__At_Penn_State__football_is_more_important_than_morality_and_the_law.html

The question is why no substantial action was taken, but I think we can all agree that it boils down to the university wanting to avoid a huge scandal such as this one, while also protecting the millions made annually by the football department. So the hell continued. 

I have written extensively on the idea that passive witnesses to evil are also complicit in evil (and thus, evil themselves). This is a psychological and philosophical truism. Still, despite "evil" being in the news constantly, little changes.

Is that because of apathy, or human nature, or fiscal concerns? Personally, I say it's all about the money. It always is.

Teachers are attacked all the time--as I was--and no one says jack to help them. Other teachers, no less, stay silent because they want to protect their own butts (it's really about protecting their paychecks).

Administrators are duty-bound to help both sides--an impossible situation--and end up doing nothing, or the wrong thing. Again, it's all in the name of money (donations and tuition and personal paychecks).

Now in the news, PSU's admin and big shots are dropping like flies and getting fired because of the scandal. Is canning everyone the solution? I don't know. What I do know is that when evil is witnessed, people need to speak up. It's not easy to do so, but it is the right thing to do.

When people DON'T speak up, they need to be called out for it. Will that change their behavior for the next time they see something bad happening to someone? God only knows, but God  (and good) has nothing to do with money.

Here's another interesting take on the situation: http://health.yahoo.net/experts/menshealth/why-joe-paterno-did-nothing

And try this: http://caffertyfile.blogs.cnn.com/2011/11/10/how-can-penn-state-university-restore-its-reputation/?hpt=hp_t3