I am in the minority on this - but I agree with the student editorial on this. My husband and I are both alumni and my daughter is there now and my son just applied. We bleed blue and white…for the UNIVERSITY. The problem is conflating the football team with the University. The students there were never at a Penn State where Joe Paterno was the coach. They have never seen him walking down Park Avenue. Their most recent and obvious connection between Joe Paterno and the University is a negative one. I say let the kids be proud of their University without needing to defend it.
I’ve gotten skewered on other boards for voicing this opinion (not very Penn State behavior in my opinion). But, there are a lot of alumni who feel as I do. They are just too afraid to say it publicly (but they say it to me!).