Penn State Removes Joe Paterno Statue [View all]

[drm604]

http://gothamist.com/2012/07/22/penn_state_removes_joe_paterno_stat.php

After a wide-reaching child abuse scandal has rocked the university, Penn State finally removed the statue of its beloved and flawed football coach Joe Paterno this morning. The AP reports, "Workers lifted the statue off its base and used a forklift to move it into Beaver Stadium as the 100 to 150 students watching chanted, 'We are Penn State.'"

The university made the decision after an independent investigation from former FBI director Louis Freeh found that Paterno apparently lied about how much he knew about former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky's child abuse. The scandal, which involved countless boys claiming that Sandusky abused and raped them (and Paterno and university officials knew about the allegations but never went to authorities), led to Paterno's retirement and Sandusky's eventual conviction, as well as soul-searching for a school that relies on the football program Paterno built.