Hundreds of Penn State U. students stood on Old Main’s steps, arms around each others’ shoulders, singing the Alma Mater, making sure to shout “May no act of ours bring shame,” hoping to gain the attention of the administration Tuesday night.
Chants, like “Joe can’t go,” and “I believe in PSU,” were shouted from the crowd and students took time to have a moment of silence for those directly affected by former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky’s alleged actions.
Danielle Perkins said she stood among hundreds of her classmates on Old Main steps to reinforce football coach Joe Paterno’s legacy.
“I think we all agree we can’t let this tarnish our university as a whole,” Perkins said. “Three dishonorable men can’t represent 40,000 students.”
The administration is not handling the situation very well and students are disappointed that they are failing to inform the public, Maura Carney said.
“To cancel [Paterno’s] press conference today, they just dug themselves in a deeper hole,” Carney (sophomore-political science) said at the protest.
Carney said the amount of students that protested at Old Main shows there is a lack of communication among the administration and students.
“No one has reached out to the student body,” Carney said.
Penn State’s chapter of NAACP President Travis Salters quieted the crowd down at one point, stressing that students should focus on the families and individuals directly affected by Sandusky’s alleged actions.
“We should hold our leaders accountable,” Salters said.
Salters added that even though he does think Paterno is an excellent coach, all the leaders involved should resign.
Many students, however, disagreed with Salters’ statement and continued to show their support for Paterno.
Dan Franke said he supports Paterno and he wants to let the Board of Trustees know that he is not happy with the alleged cover up.
“Hopefully, [the Board of Trustees] will realize we’re all supporting our coach and he really did nothing wrong. He went to his supervisor,” Franke (senior-hotel, restaurant and institutional management) said.
Shannon Elton said she also attended the Old Main protest to support all that Paterno has done for Penn State over the years.
“I want to show my support for [Paterno] mostly and not ignore what he’s done for the school since he’s been here,” Elton said. “He’s given so much to the school and for us and for the alumni that we can’t forget about.”
Maddy Pryor, who also helped organize the ‘Protect Joe Paterno’s Statue’ event, said the student body needs to stand together rather than be divided after the Sandusky incident.
“All of this isn’t something we’re used to,” Pryor said. “None of us have really been through this, especially at Penn State which has such high regards.”