# Should Joe Paterno be fired now? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 9, 2011, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-joe-paterno-be-fired-now/602432 "2011-11-09T21:51:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-joe-paterno-be-fired-now/602432/1 "2011-11-09T21:51:08Z")
For those that aren’t clued in: [NYTimes article about sex abuse scandal that has rocked Penn State University](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/10/sports/ncaafootball/penn-states-joe-paterno-wants-to-retire-at-end-of-season.html). Joe Pa has announced that he will retire at the end of the football season. He stated in his announcement to retire: > [@Joe Paterno](#): > > At this moment the Board of Trustees should not spend a single minute discussing my status. They have far more important matters to address. I want to make this as easy for them as I possibly can. > > This is a tragedy. It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more. Well Joe, if you wish you had done more and it is one of the greatest sorrows of your life, why the hell did you sit on this information for 9 years? I believe the Penn State trustees should dismiss him immediately. While one could argue that he informed the athletic director and the Sr. VP of Finance of the university and they did nothing, and as a result have been arrested for perjury and failing to report and that absolved him of any further responsibility, I would say that Joe Pa while on the org. chart at Penn State may have reported to the AD, that was in title only. Joe Pa truly only answered to the board of trustees. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-joe-paterno-be-fired-now/602432/2 "2011-11-09T21:53:58Z")
I agree. Paterno should not be allowed to stay. If this was, say, Ron Zook at Illinois, his ass would be unemployed right now. The same goes for McQueary. ---
**Author:** ![howye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9adbd/32.png) [@howye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/howye)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-joe-paterno-be-fired-now/602432/3 "2011-11-09T21:55:13Z")
Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-joe-paterno-be-fired-now/602432/4 "2011-11-09T21:56:17Z")
The OP asked me to close this since there’s already a Pit thread, but I’ll leave it open for now in case people want to debate the issue in a non-Pit way. ---
**Author:** ![ladyfoxfyre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@ladyfoxfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyfoxfyre)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-joe-paterno-be-fired-now/602432/5 "2011-11-09T22:17:52Z")
Yes, I think he should be fired. ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-joe-paterno-be-fired-now/602432/6 "2011-11-09T22:22:50Z")
No question, got to fire him now. I’m amazed that there even seems to be a question about it. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-joe-paterno-be-fired-now/602432/7 "2011-11-09T22:26:32Z")
I think the announcement that he’s quitting now is his attempt to keep the trustees from firing him immediately, which they should do anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-joe-paterno-be-fired-now/602432/8 "2011-11-09T22:26:56Z")
Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-joe-paterno-be-fired-now/602432/9 "2011-11-09T22:27:17Z")
Did Paterno say what he thought happened? I guess its not impossible that he thought the matter was investigated but turned out to be nothing and thats why the administration dropped it. But certainly if he knew the admin was keeping it to themselves, he should be fired. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-joe-paterno-be-fired-now/602432/10 "2011-11-09T22:30:49Z")
Fire him immediately. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-joe-paterno-be-fired-now/602432/11 "2011-11-09T23:06:56Z")
To elaborate on what I posted above, here’s a timeline of Sandusky’s involvement with the victims and also his involvement with Penn State’s athletic department. > **[Timeline: Key dates in Penn State scandal](https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/7212054/key-dates-penn-state-sex-abuse-case)** > > A chronological look at the case against former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, based on a grand jury report in Pennsylvania state court. Some key dates in Penn State football history are included. Sandusky has been charged with... And here’s an op-ed from Sport Illustrated discussing Paterno legal situation. To sum up - Paterno is not a part of the current legal case against Sandusky but his grand jury testimony might leave him (and Penn State) open to being sued by the victims and possibly even open to charges of obstruction or perjury. [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/michael\_mccann/11/09/joe.paterno/?xid=cnnbin](http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/michael_mccann/11/09/joe.paterno/?xid=cnnbin) McQeary testified that he saw Sandusky raping a child in the shower. The next day, he told Paterno what he had seen. Paterno testified that he didn’t know the specifics of what happened between Sandusky and the child but he told his boss, Curley it was “fondling or something of a sexual nature.” Despite this, and the molestation event which happened in the showers in 1998, which lead to Sandusky’s aprupt retirement, Paterno, Curley and others continued to allow Sandusky access to the Penn State showers and locker rooms. Until just this week, Sandusky was listed as a professor emeritus and was still permitted on campus (although McQueary was told that his locker room key was revoked years ago.) Sandusky had at least three inicidents (that we know of) with boys in the locker rooms at Penn State. Paterno has testified that he knew at least one of those incidents involved sexual actions. I personally can’t believe he didn’t know about Sandusky, years ago. He did the minimum to keep himself in the clear, legally, but Paterno continued to allow Sandusky access to his facilities and students. For that, he needs to go. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-joe-paterno-be-fired-now/602432/12 "2011-11-09T23:11:22Z")
Fired with extreme prejudice. If he’s really that sorry about everything, he’d have quit already anyway. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-joe-paterno-be-fired-now/602432/13 "2011-11-09T23:44:02Z")
Fire him. I hear he said he wished he’d acted differently. Yeah, us too. And especially the victims. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-joe-paterno-be-fired-now/602432/14 "2011-11-09T23:45:55Z")
Yes, he should be fired. Doesn’t seem like much of a debate. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2011, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-joe-paterno-be-fired-now/602432/15 "2011-11-10T00:22:06Z")
Yes, fire him now. Given the weight of the situation, his termination is already overdue. ---
**Author:** ![Bartman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@Bartman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bartman)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2011, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-joe-paterno-be-fired-now/602432/16 "2011-11-10T01:42:10Z")
Given the information we think we know, yes he should be fired. Paterno had an ethical if not a legal responsibility to follow through and verify that nothing untoward had happened or would happen again. He should have personally made sure the police were contacted, and a thorough investigation was completed. In the end it was his program. Curley was nominally Paterno’s boss. But in reality Paterno was in charge. It happened on his watch and he looked the other way. He should be shown the door. ---
**Author:** ![brickbacon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brickbacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brickbacon)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2011, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-joe-paterno-be-fired-now/602432/17 "2011-11-10T01:44:15Z")
No, let him coach the last game. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2011, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-joe-paterno-be-fired-now/602432/18 "2011-11-10T03:18:11Z")
[Paterno has been fired, and the president of the university is also out.](http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/7214380/joe-paterno-president-graham-spanier-penn-state) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2011, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-joe-paterno-be-fired-now/602432/19 "2011-11-10T03:53:04Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > Fire him immediately. Can’t it be done any sooner? ---
**Author:** ![Da\_Mikster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bb73d2/32.png) [@Da\_Mikster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Da_Mikster)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2011, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-joe-paterno-be-fired-now/602432/20 "2011-11-10T05:17:58Z")
Witch hunt anyone? Sorry, I have to believe in the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. The trustees didn’t fire him because it was ‘right’, or ‘just’, but just to cover their own asses. I don’t know what Paterno knew or when, AND YOU FOLKS DON’T EITHER. Remember, Schultz WAS the head of the campus police in 2002, so Paterno had no reason to assume he wouldn’t investigate. And the accused’s right to privacy meant he wouldn’t necessarily be told anything about the investigation, either. That the University notified the Sandusky’s charity what he was doing indicates that they weren’t actively covering it up, either. But don’t let little things like facts cloud your indignation. Put everything in old Joe’s lap. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-joe-paterno-be-fired-now/602432.md?page=2)