This is a comment by MCA on the post “Sandusky Victims: Tear down the Paterno Statue Yourselves“.
“The statue isn’t the problem. The problem is what erected it and what it represents—the excessive fetishization of sports, to the point that protecting the brand/team (and its revenue) took precedence over protecting children from a monster.
“Firing Joe Paterno won’t solve that problem. Shutting down the entire Penn State football program permanently won’t solve that problem; it’ll just happen again in another football school, if it isn’t happening right now. The solution is to end college sports, all of them. We’re the only civilized nation whose public universities function primarily as sports clubs, with education a distant second, and we certainly piss away far money money on them that anyone else. As long as those warped priorities remain in place, the ingredients for a repeat of this scandal remain as potent as ever. Every few months, like clockwork, there’s a new scandal. How long will it take before people finally realize that it’s not “bad actors”, it’s a toxic environment that will turn anyone bad.
“Of course, this entirely skips over the broader social obsession with grown men whose sole accomplishment is playing children’s games. That the people working to cure cancer have to fight tooth and nail over every scrap of funding just to keep the lights on while we pay people billions for contributing absolutely nothing to society says horrible things about our priorities as a society.”
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I don’t know much about Penn State except that the Crimson Tide beat them twice in a row, so I’ll talk about UA. I got a Bachelor’s from Alabama, the quintessential football school. I had a whole litany of professors who didn’t give a damn how many yards Trent Richardson averages per carry. My grade point average was my foremost consideration throughout all of college. The University of Alabama is primarily an institution of learning. The football team is one cog in that machinery. Money floods in because of football. Hundreds of thousands of people (not an exaggeration) show up on game days in Tuscaloosa. They eat food, they buy merchandise, they fill up their cars. Everyone in Tuscaloosa benefits from football, including the kids who get to go to college for free because of it. (Side Note: After the 2009 National Championship, property values in Tuscaloosa went up by $1. Not important but interesting.)That includes the guys on the field but also the dudes handing them towels and stretching their hamstrings in the offseason.
Because some people took their power to disgusting levels and were complicit in gross abuses of children doesn’t mean that football is damaged. Sometimes bad people are bad people. JoePa and Sandusky could have been senators or mafia bosses or famous actors. They were powerful.
The only dispatches from Tuscaloosa make it seem like everyone there only cares about football because there is no ESPN gameday for top-ranked creative writing graduate schools. No one is doing ‘The Wave’ when our advertising and p.r. school comes in at the top. There are 30,000 students at Alabama and most of them will never go to Bryant Denny Stadium.
State schools, Penn State included, are schools for everyone. They’re diverse and have hundreds of opportunities. One of those opportunities just so happens to be more marketable than some others. The problem is monsters and the weak men who enable them, not a glorified game of keep-away with a leather ball.
Right! Football has nothing to do with it…
…except when the gladiators are bathed in entitlement, shielded with good-ole-boy denial, raised-up as Gods among mortals, waived of standard responsibilities, bailed-out of routine crimes…boys-will-be-boys crimes about campus.
I’m quite certain that the Penn State President, Art Dept Chair, Dean of Liberal Arts would have all provided similar shielding for a pedophile Graphic Arts prof working at the local community children’s programs.
There are in fact classes of humans, especially in self-enthralled kingdoms with great walls of protection. Our society values this rule of humanity, else you would see poets with $21M contracts over five-years and typewriter endorsements.
Ultimately that’s a question of: How much are we willing to spend on entertainment.
We could cut sports funding, we could cut arts funding, we could cut film-making, music production, fictional book-writing… there’s a whole lot of stuff we could cut, but the fact is that there’ll always be more we could spend on healthcare and it doesn’t make sense to make our lives a boring misery, by never spending resources having fun, in an effort to make the world a better place.
I still wonder at the Glass Ceiling that exists when it comes to culpability in Institutional failure.
I have to agree that The Fetishization of College Sports has been a massive enabler in the Sandusky – PSU – Paterno scandal. Organisational Culture and Myopia are central and key issues here. I have seen that culture and myopia play out many times on varying levels.
I’ve seen people die because of it – I’ve seen people kept in physical conditions and treated in ways that have been characterised as torture – I’ve seen disabled people, the elderly and children subjected to patterns of abuse, including sexual abuse, that go beyond terrifying. I’ve seen grown able bodied men sexually abused because they feared worse if they did not agree to the abuse – I’ve seen people denied access to medical treatment and even food and water – I’ve seen them die as a result.
In fact there is not much I have not seen – including the home made film studio where disabled men and women were taken to be raped and abused, and the whole lot recorded on video. Unfortunately, the authorities failed to secure any of the video material, and so the testimony of the victims was the only proof and considered too poor to be used to secure conviction. I have to wonder why so many people simply can’t believe what has actually happened, and what still goes on. Maybe they just haven’t had the full exposure and media coverage has been too guarded?
There has been one set of common factors in the institutional abuse and failures. They all occurred inside organisations that were supposedly charitable and set up to have a higher goal – to make the world better for everyone. The Organisations all enjoyed a high public profile and support – even institutional and governmental support. The Board/Trustees were all very well known and regarded, and they trusted the management they employed – the Trustees believed in their own capacity to make the right choices in selecting the right people. The Trustees all had significant background in the fields of business, administration and civil law. None had a background in Law Enforcement, Criminal Law or any form of employment which brought them face to face with people who could be classed as vulnerable. None had a track record in investigating or managing Institutional failure.
The Trustees were hands off in day to day engagement with the organisation and supervision of management. The situation developed over many years. The status of the managers/CEOs/COO’s were elevated in the wider community. The management controlled both public image for the organisation and also controlled internal image. An internal culture that supported the organisation no matter what was promoted and even enforced. Employees who were critical were subjected to disciplinary action and this even resulted in constructive dismissal. Reports of concern to external agencies were judged against Public Image and not Internal culture or what was reported. Only after media became involved was there any form of reaction.
In one case I was told by a Trustee that they know a most vile offender personally, and as such they simply could not accept the reports as to this employees conduct. The trustee was asked when they had been in a position to be an beneficiary of the organisation, and so under this person’s control. The response “That is a nonsensical question that is not relevant.”. The trustee maintained their supposed personal experience even against overwhelming evidence and criminal charges. Trustee and Authority Myopia is like that.
Concerns raised by employees were not listened to, and employees quickly learned to either shut up or leave. External agencies were discouraged from oversight, and when it did occur it was subject to tight control and management – a rosy image was projected and maintained. Those who had to provide services and support for the organisation and enter the organisation were cherry picked and found to be enablers of abuse. These external professionals, such as doctors, were chosen for their myopia and willingness to receive payment and make no comment or ask questions. It is often uncovered that individuals who are perceived as a danger to the institutional structure or subjected to a whispering campaign with their credibility or professionalism subjected to repeated attack in subtle ways. This can force individuals to believe that they can and will not be able to secure other employment, and that their only option is to stay and shut up. To be able to cope they learn to not see and not comment. Many suffer damage to their health and home life.
Record keeping at all levels was either perfunctory or deliberately designed to hide matters, even names, from easy access and being located. Levels of contrived impunity were created to keep matters hidden and none apparent.
The biggest factor was the creation of an internal culture of Contrived Impunity which allowed everyone with authority to deny knowledge whilst many patterns of control are exercised.
Certain employees raised concerns and then shut up for fear of 1) their jobs, 2) their income 3) they decided they had to stay and attempt to protect the people being targeted. This has lead to long term trauma and damage. Some had been acting as guardian for 20 years, without support, without training and with no way out. When institutional collapse occurred, these guardians were criticised for not having done more. It’s the same as blaming a cabin not on the Titanic for not saving all the drowned passengers. Once you are trapped and have decided to stay in an attempt to mitigate the worst, you are made an unwitting accomplice to the damage and made to walk a tightrope with the falls and risks getting more dangerous as time passes.
I have to agree that when looking at PSU – Paterno – Sandusky that the fetishization of sports has played it’s part. But in the multiple cases I have been directly involved in there was no sports at all.
There was fetishization of image, of status and supposed management. All were elevated to a massive status that allowed a great deal to be hidden – and for contrived level of impunity to be created to allow that deliberate hiding and justification of failure. The Contrivance and Connivance ran from top to bottom in the organisation. People who spoke out were obliged to become party to the contrivance and connivance, else face levels of personal damage that were very real and impacted upon their lives – their families – even future employment on a scale that was untenable. To all intents and purposes the individuals face total personal destruction.
That is why safeguards are supposed to be in place at “ALL” levels.
The Cultural Issues that allow, empower and even enable abuse of so many types to flourish is far bigger than Just College Sports. It’s an institutional issue. It’s just the same as played out in the ongoing Banking Crisis.
I was asked once by a Prospective Trustee what they should look out for in the organisation they had been invited to join. It was simple! 1) You Find Lions Where the Zebras Are! You will have to deal with Predators of all types and in many forms. 2) You don’t get a good sight of the Lions from a Hot Air Balloon. Any organisation that Inflates it’s own image – status – capabilities lacks the capacity to see the predators who will invade because there is prey to follow. If you want to be a real trustee, don’t take it as a Balloon ride and get on the ground and watch how the Zebras behave and react.
They took it to heart – six weeks later they called in the police. The investigation is still ongoing after 7 years. The Organisation has been closed – clients/beneficiaries moved elsewhere – employees black listed and never able to work with vulnerable people ever again. Six Whistle Blowers over an 18 years period were identified. Two had been obliged to emigrate because they had been unable to gain future employment after they left the Organisation with supposed disciplinary matters against them unresolved. Any references obtained made it clear that they were a danger to any organisation because they would not conform. One was left homeless and had to relocate to protect their children and make sure they had a roof, food and schooling. Three investigating police officers have been removed from the case. They were all reported to be suffering significant health issues due to the investigation. The reallocation of investigators has lead to additional delay.
The Trustees have all been recruited to manage other similar organisations. The CEO now runs another charity. Fetishization indeed. All were seen as experts in institutional management. If their names are raised in my hearing people witness a scene similar to the exorcist!
That glass ceiling of culpability is a big issue! It also needs to be smashed and barriers to reality removed.
It’s time for the Hot Air Balloons to be removed from any and all Trustees.
“Six Whistle Blowers over an 18 years period were identified. Two had been obliged to emigrate because they had been unable to gain future employment after they left the Organisation with supposed disciplinary matters against them unresolved. Any references obtained made it clear that they were a danger to any organisation because they would not conform. One was left homeless and had to relocate to protect their children and make sure they had a roof, food and schooling. Three investigating police officers have been removed from the case. They were all reported to be suffering significant health issues due to the investigation.”
And therein lies the answer. What are you willing to sacrifice to do the right thing?… your job, your future, your marriage, your kids, your life? Sometimes it seems evil will go to any lengths to achieve its ends. How far are you willing to go to stop it? Think about that the next time you condemn someone for not doing enough. If we expect people to step up and take one for the good of everyone else, we at least should acknowledge how much we’re asking.
First of all I say all this as someone who generally despises the idea of big-time college sports, especially football. I don’t think our colleges and universities should have expensive sports programs, period, so part of me would love it if Penn State lost its football program even for a few years. Maybe they’d get used to it and never look back, like what the University of Chicago did decades ago. Part of me welcomes any excuse to divest colleges of their athletic departments.
However, it’s overkill to destroy an entire program because of the actions of its individual members, even if they colluded to use the program for their own nefarious ends. That doesn’t mean that the institution has to be destroyed. We didn’t disband the Department of Defense because of Abu Ghraib, and we didn’t eliminate the executive branch because of Bill Clinton’s sex life. We generally don’t ban all fraternities because members of one fraternity misbehave.
Collective punishment feels very righteous sometimes, but it’s totally primitive. It’s punishing people who are not guilty except by association. Why not just demand the entire University to shut down? Or maybe stop all federal funding to the whole state of Pennsylvania? That’ll teach ‘em.
We did close Abu Ghraib and summarily prosecute all involved including those way up the ladder, whom never held a leash in their hand. Buhbah C’s perjury was not a system-wide wrong. It was an individual.
Our nation divided and fought over clashing ideologies regarding slavery and trade. Eventually, we punished the crap out of the south in a post-war recovery. We (VERY) wrongly imprisoned an entire ethnic category of Americans over a feared allegiance. The DOJ summarily executed men, women and children whom had nothing to do with anything at Waco.
American and Americans today are ghastly afraid of pointing-out sick cultures and sub-cultures and calling them as such. Sadly, there were no audible calls for summary judgement during and after the Penn State riots. Rather, the same-old, knee-jerk rhetoric emerged to judge the veracity of the (then) unknown accusers, the age of the cases and money-grubbing nature of “those kinds of poor kids” were dragged-out into the psychotic bonfire of Penn’s football sacredness.
The faculty, the staff, the press and especially the students ALL, all, self identify as Nittany Lions. “We Are Penn State!”
Prior and other corrupt NCAA Div I football programs have met their demise over much, much less than the sheltered rape of little boys.
The PA Gov has no balls unfortunately. Penn State football makes too much money. Votes are too hard to come-by to level that stadium and purge every ounce of that very sick and twisted football culture.
Real men DO in fact have the character to destroy and otherwise scuttle their own ship when conditions dictate. The Penn State generals were dragged out kicking and screaming in their own pee-wet pants. They had not the character to throw themselves on their swords. But those who rape and cover-up rape, by definition, have “no character.”