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Jay Paterno joining Penn State board of trustees

Bob Shoop, Jay Paterno, Penn State THON, Nittany Lions

Jay Paterno, former Penn State assistant coach and son of the disgraced longtime Penn State head coach Joe Paterno, is joining the school’s board of trustees.

“Between my mom and dad and my family, we’ve been connected with Penn State for more than a century, when you add up all the years we’ve given there,” Paterno said, per ESPN.com. “We feel very strongly about the university and what it can be. There are some challenges at Penn State and in higher education around the country, and I thought it was time for me to get involved.”

The way Penn State University has embraced the Paterno family after it was revealed that Joe Paterno had knowledge of Jerry Sandusky’s molesting children is nauseating. This isn’t quite as bad as when the school honored the head coach last season. However, it is stunning that they are not warding off anyone named Paterno with a Heisman trophy-style stiff arm.

This is not hard. Maybe it’s unfair to exclude Jay Paterno based solely on his last name, but it’s not as if he wasn’t only there in the first place for the same reason.

Not to mention that Jay Paterno is the same person who felt Joe Paterno’s firing constituted a lack of respect. So just stop. Stop trying to build any legacy surrounding the Paterno name. Stop trying to foster the notion that Joe Paterno did nothing wrong. Stop assuming the public has forgotten about a scandal that happened less than five years ago.

Penn State University doesn’t have to do anything but that, yet it keeps going.

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