Querying McQueary

Let me preface this by saying that I wrote this before hearing the announcement of Paterno's firing by Penn State's board of trustees and that much of what follows relates to allegations rather than material that's been proven in a court of law. On the latter point, since I'm inclined to believe these allegations, I will refer to them here in a way that reflects my belief. To the former point, events in State College in the wake of the announcement suggest that it's going to be a while before the passions surrounding the decision and the terrible events leading up to it die down.

Of the many things that trouble me about the terrible events at Penn State is the fact that so many people are raking Joe Paterno over the coals but making excuses for the actions, or rather lack of actions, by the graduate-assistant whose 2002 report has emerged as such a major part of the scandal. That graduate-assistant, who's been identified as former Nittany Lions player Mike McQueary, is currently an assistant coach at Penn State. McQueary's story, now a matter of public record, is that he witnessed former Penn State Defensive Coordinator Jerry Sandusky raping a young boy but did nothing to stop it. The Grand Jury report that led to the charges in this horrible situation specifically describes McQueary as a credible witness, so it seems reasonable to take this account of his actions at face value and assess them accordingly.

By that standard, McQueary's actions are at least as deserving of criticism as those of any school administrator. McQueary didn't have to get into a physical confrontation with Sandusky, though, one imagines that an athletic 28 year old would be capable of physically conveying his intentions to a man 30 years his senior. He didn't have to lift a finger. He only had to say something then and there to stop that child, the still unidentified "Victim 2", from being hurt further.

Instead, it appears that he opted to walk away while the rape of that boy apparently continued. The idea that McQueary was so shocked that he couldn't do anything is as much a cop-out as any excuses being made for Joe Paterno. You can legitimately argue that Paterno should have done more beyond his initial report to Penn State administrators, and the coach's decision to step down is at least a tacit admission of that.

Perhaps if Paterno had done more, other boys would have been spared from harm. We'll never know for sure. What is known, though, is that by refusing to even open his mouth at the time to stop a child from being raped, Mike McQueary did much less than the minimum of what was called for in the situation.