A Story for Us: Some quotes

I am no writer. But some people are, and they are so much better at expressing my feelings on this situation than I am. This post is nothing more than a collection of quotes from articles that I found interesting to read in the past few weeks. I encourage you to click on the links and read the entire quote in context (and if the link doesn't work because it's a facebook note, let me know. I want you to read them if you're interested. Especially the Tim Henderson one, for most of my readers :-)). I couldn't figure out how to put them in an order that would make sense, so they're kind of a mess. But please read them, all of them. And let me know how you feel.

The quotes come from a few current Penn State students, Penn State alumni, a Penn State professor, a campus minister working for Campus Crusade at Penn State, and others. This is our story.

We are.

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I think I also understand though, a little better than I would have two years ago, the mixed emotions that could lead the non-thinking Pro Joe-ers and even the thinking non-joiners to feel vulnerable after having given in to the womblike warmth of being a part of a thing. As my student wrote, all the contradictory emotions—anger, denial, horror, sadness, betrayal, defensiveness—coalesce into an inarticulate grief, an inability to understand mixed with a desire to do so, mixed with a childlike wish that the stunning, difficult reality could be simply subsumed into an amniotic bubble. Otherwise, one must see that the thing is not at all the kind of reliable safe zone it once seemed to be.

Elizabeth Kadetsky

PSU Behrend -- my first love

One last thought: Don’t deflect the shame of what has happened and is happening here at Penn State. Let it into your heart. Grieve. Mourn. We are Penn State. If we will accept the glory of that we must also accept the shame. This is a shameful moment. Embrace it. Let shame do its work. People are eager to get past this; to restore Penn State Pride. Don’t rush this.

Let shame produce softness and repentance in your heart. Perhaps God will give you the grace to see in other’s failure to love, your own failure to love, so you can confess it to him, and be cleansed, and experiencing his love, become a better lover. We love because he loved us first.

Tim Henderson

Crowd surfing the Nittany Lion

I don't care what outlet your get your news from know this-the media is completely missing the point. I get it; you want to be the ones who breaks a story that Joe is leaving, but what about the victims? What about their families? What about the people WHO ARE ACTUALLY ACCUSED OF DOING WRONG? I understand if Paterno was involved in it there is a story there, but until something surfaces why are you talking about it? There are victims here, and all you are doing is potentially creating another one who out of all of them may be the most innocent. Paterno IS part of the story, but there has been nowhere that encompasses the full scope of what has happened aside from A COLLEGE NEWSPAPER.

Kevin Fay

Words of wisdom

Facebook status update - PSU student: Flipping vans? Bringing down lamp posts? What you did tonight was not out of pride or indignation, you did it to make a spectacle and follow your adrenaline rush. Congratulations- you made your spectacle, and now, not only have we lost our two greatest Penn State leaders, we've lost the respect of everyone watching.

This is what senior design did to us

The witch hunting has gotten so out of control that Franco Harris, one of the few to stand up and defend Paterno was himself fired as a spokesman for the Meadows race track and casino, specifically because of his defense of Paterno. This what happens with fascists when someone dares to speak out about something in opposition to the party line.

Tom in Paine

Bonding at Penn State

Facebook status update - PSU Alumnus: Final points. I have seen a lot of people who are not part of the Penn State community make comments about the Penn State scandal. They think it is ridiculous that students and alumni are pissed off. Let me try to explain. If you clearly read the Grand Jury report, you would know a Penn State GA (Mike McQueary) witnessed Jerry Sandusky sexually assulting victim 2. Instead of calling the police, ......he reported it to his supervisor Joe Paterno the next day. Joe Paterno then set up a meeting with his supervisor, Tim Curley. The meeting took place on a Sunday in Joe Paterno's home. Tim Curley and Gary Shultz, then met with Mike McQueary to discuss what he saw. Curley and Shultz never reported the incident further. Their reports to the grand jury were not credible. Know where in the report does it say anything about Joe Paterno knowing about the crimes and not doing anything. So why are we mad? We're mad because the media found a scape goat in Joe Paterno. We're mad because they blamed him instead of Mike McQueary, Tim Curley, Gary Shultz, and Jerry Sandusky. Were mad because when you search "penn State scandal", Joe Paterno's picture comes up. We're mad because after 61 years as a Penn State employ, the Board of Trustees fired him over the phone. We're mad because they admit that all the facts are not present yet. We're mad because the school let Tim Curley take a leave, Gary Shultz resign, and Mike McQueary keep his job. This is issue is bigger than football; Joe Paterno is bigger than football. He is man that has raised millions of dollars for my school. He is a symbol of the community.I have literally felt awful during all of this. I feel awful for the kids that had to go through something that nobody should endure. I pray for them, and all children that are treated poorly.I feel awful about how people are portraying Penn State, and The Second Mile. I pray for the victims, and hope they find peace. I pray that nothing like this happens again.

The Nittany Lion Inn

I'm struggling in three ways: I'm grieving for a place that I love very much, one that I have known both as a student and now as a Townie. And secondly, I'm grieving for the crimes against children and for the unjust world that let those acts be unpunished. And thirdly, I'm grieving the ways I am part of all of this. This is my home, my family name, if you will. I have to own it and I don't like it.

Dana Ray

Some of the best looking Penn State engineers

“It’s like a mass 45,000-person funeral,” said Bree Feibischoff, a 20-year-old junior from Marlboro, N.J. “Just the whole mood seems so different than a normal Penn State day.”

Mark Viera