The Cult of Penn State

The Thinking Housewife ^ | Laura Wood

[ventanax5]

JOE AMES is an alumnus of the Pennsylvania State University. He served as editor of The Lionhearted: Penn State’s Only Independent Newspaper from 1991 – 1993. The paper gained national attention when two female undergraduate students, both journalism majors and members of the student club “Womyn’s Concerns,” stole and burned thousands of Lionhearted newspapers on the lawn of its advisor’s State College law office, to the applause of Penn State faculty and administrators.

Mr. Ames offers his view here of the recent scandal.

“WE are Penn State.”

Even those with superficial exposure to Penn State are familiar with its famous, antiphonal football chant, “We are Penn State.” Few people, even Penn State students and professionals, know its origin. In the late 1940s, the students of the football team heard rumours that SMU requested a meeting to discuss the exclusion of a black student from their upcoming game at the “Sugar Bowl.” The story goes that a student teammate spoke first and for the whole team, “We are Penn State. There will be no meeting.” The game was played, the black student went on to produce a score-tying touchdown, Penn State launched itself into the Civil Rights movement, and a righteous football cheer was born.

“We are Penn State” implied personal loyalty to a fellow student as a matter of principle, and the principle was more important than their extracurricular football play.Yet for the 109,000 football watchers packed into Penn State’s Beaver Stadium last Saturday, “We are Penn State” is a statement of identity similar to how Christians understand Christ’s remarkable statement in St. John’s Gospel, 10:30: I and my Father are one.

Except with a sinister turn to it.

[Tom_Ohio]

Penn State yada yada....national treasure yada yada...
Joe Paterno yada yada... National treasure yada yada...
The only thing the taxpayers need to know at this time is this: Joe Pa will get 554,000 a year retirement, cash. Not including whatever health insurace bennies get kicked in.
Now multiply one Joe Pa by the number of teachers/coaches in the state of Pennsylvania
That is the most important news at this juncture, not his firing, not his friends, not his morality, not anything else.
The whole house of cards of a retirement system for all Pennsylvania state, local, municipal, and school employees cannot stand up to the weight that the many other Joe Pa’s are going to put on it in the next few years
Oh yes, and all guaranteed by law, thank your local unions for such fine collective bargaining at your expense.

[Notary Sojac]

I don't disagree with what you're saying about Penn State, but I do not think any of the other major NCAA football/basketball factories are any different.

If Sandusky had been a coach at Nebraska or Florida or Oregon or Alabama things would have played out pretty much the same way.

[LSUfan]

Too bad this article is almost a complete fabrication. Penn State did not play in the Sugar Bowl for the first time until 1972. They played in the Cotton Bowl in 1948 against SMU. It was not SMU that asked that they exclude a black player. That is false. Penn State in fact had two black players on the roster in 1948. The area hotels would not allow the black players to stay due to the horrible Jim Crow-type laws in those days. Penn State had to stay in barracks at NAS Dallas.

[the OlLine Rebel]

Hmm?

I was referring to another city not too far away, and its obsession. Penn State and Pittsburgh unfortunately overlap a great deal, so we’re talking ridiculous levels of obsession....

[the OlLine Rebel]

Interesting info. Thanks.

Being a horse fan, I know what it’s like. It’s amazing how many fake “stories” there are that keep hanging on like rotten fish smell. Lesson: always take the myths with a grain of salt and research yourself!