Integrity

It was a feeling, maybe you had to live there to sense it, to understand. We lived in Pennsylvania from June 1976 to July 1984. Soon after arriving in Harrisburg we learned about the aura surrounding Joe Paterno. Out for a Sunday afternoon drive once, we rode up to State College to look round and see what the magic was all about. Nothing exciting. A peaceful college town, population about 35,000 at the time. Seemed like it would be an easy place to live and love.

By then, Paterno had been Penn State head coach ten or a dozen years and was easily the best known face in the state. You saw his photo on the celebrities wall of every restaurant in Harrisburg.

Last night the Penn State board of trustees fired “JoePa” unanimously, effective immediately, no notice, out. Under the horrific circumstances, the only action that might have showed equal integrity would have been if Joe had resigned earlier, instead of delaying and then trying to end run the board by announcing he would retire at the end of the season.

The safety and wellbeing of a child is the highest priority in human life. To do the right thing for a child regardless of cost is a matter of integrity; and nothing in life stands higher, nothing outranks integrity. Last night Penn State trustees showed integrity without compromise. That their action was unanimous and instantaneous, immediate, showed both a grasp of priorities and integrity of the highest order.