@JoePaStatue

Steve Clowney has more on the controversy over the JoePa Statue in State College over at propertyprof.  My thoughts are here.  I think (fear) that Steve's going to get his wish.  Public sentiment on the ground in Pennsylvania is really running against the statue.  (See, e.g., the facebook page, "Remove Statue of Joe Paterno on Penn State"; CNN's completely unscientific poll is running wildly against JoePa).  Though I might note that some twitter uses  (or at least one twitter user) are (is) coming to the defense of JoePa. @fightercowboy tweeted on July 13: "@JoePaStatue you will never be taken down. Over my dead body and with 1000s of rounds of spent shells."  I'm sure that was a hyperbole on his part.

I might add that another model than removal would be to add another monument or plaque, which might put the statue and controversy into context.  Assuming the statue is removed, I'll be curious how -- if at all -- this affects the calculations regarding building names on college campuses.

Update: Jeff Pearlman at CNN has an opinion piece saying that the JoePa statue should remain, and be used to start discussion about the place of football on the PSU campus (and I guess in American life in general).  University of Denver Law Professor Tom Russell was quoted extensively in an insidehighereducation story about the statue.  As Tom said, “The university, having failed in its responsibilities, now has a responsibility to repair the harm by having a big and unpleasant conversation,” he continued. “Penn State engaged in the cover-up. So in that way this statue is a piece of evidence -- it’s dirty linen that should remain at least for as long as it takes for Penn State to discuss the harm and try to provide a remedy for the harm.”  (You may recall that Tom led the campaign to get Simkins Hall on UT-Austin's campus renamed.  Simkins was an early 20th century UT Law Professor who had supported the Klan.) 

I agree with Jeff and Tom completely -- and with Ta-Nehisi Coates' op-ed in the Times that Kent Schenkel pointed us to yesterday -- but I think that's precisely the reason that PSU will likely take down the statute.  They want to forget this shameful epsiode in the school's history and forgetting is facilitated by the absence of monuments.  And just to be clear, Steve Clowney's arguing not just for removal of JoePa, but for a replacement that'll get people talking.  So Steve and I are on the same page in general.

Also -- I love the options on ESPN's poll:

What should Penn State do with the Joe Paterno statue?

•  Remove it immediately in wake of Freeh report
•  Leave it in place as reminder of good things Paterno did
•  Remove it sometime before the 2012 season kicks off
•  Make a decision after trials of other Penn State officials   (Total votes: 13,747)

They don't even have the option of leave it up as a reminder of human failings and/or the problems that an obsessive focus on football causes.  The only option in terms of leaving up the statue is as a reminder of the good JoePa did.  I love this.  Further to this, see the discussion at ESPN's website.

Comments

[Howard Wasserman]

I agree with Steve that the Paterno figure in the statue is really creepy looking.

[Alfred Brophy]

Well, now, the aesthetics of this are an entirely separate issue!

[Bob Power]

Until recently the tradition was to not build statutes of, or name buildings after, living persons. Now every one-term state rep seems to get a middle school. While Paterno seemed likely to be a suitable honoree for most of his life, the disclosures of the past six months, and the final several months of his life, show that we should return to that tradition.

[Michelle Meyer]

It looks like you predicted correctly, Al. From http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/breaking/chi-paterno-statue-20120722,0,7120603.story:

The famed statue of Joe Paterno was taken down from outside the Penn State football stadium Sunday, eliminating a key piece of the iconography surrounding the once-sainted football coach accused of burying child sex abuse allegations against a retired assistant.

Workers lifted the 7-foot-tall 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."

. . . Construction vehicles and police arrived shortly after dawn Sunday, barricading the street and sidewalks near the statue, erecting a chain-link fence then concealing the statue with a blue tarp.

Penn State President Rod Erickson said he decided to have the statue removed and put into storage because it "has become a source of division and an obstacle to healing."

"I believe that, were it to remain, the statue will be a recurring wound to the multitude of individuals across the nation and beyond who have been the victims of child abuse," Erickson said in a statement released at 7 a.m. Sunday.

He said Paterno's name will remain on the campus library because it "symbolizes the substantial and lasting contributions to the academic life and educational excellence that the Paterno family has made to Penn State University."

. . . Some newspaper columnists and former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden have said the statue should be taken down, while a small plane pulled a banner over State College reading, "Take the statue down or we will."

But Paterno still has plenty of fans, and Penn State's decision to remove the monument won't sit well with them. One student even vowed to "chain myself to that statue" if there was an attempt to remove it.

----

The article also offers some unfortunate quotes from the sculptor.

[Alfred Brophy]

Thanks for this, Michelle. And enjoying your blogging! Glad you're hanging out with us in the faculty lounge.

Easily predictable outcome. I understand the sentiments, even if I disagree with them. The statue has become a political liability and it's asking a lot for the community (and the decision-makers at Penn State) to have enough nuance to accept that the statue should remain as a teaching device and as a reminder of the past, good and bad.

I'm sure this controversy will continue for a long time. I hope to talk a little bit about the arguments on the ESPN website about the reasons for removal (or retention). I think there's a lot of data there about how people think about this issue and what factors they plug into their moral equation.

[home insurance vero beach]

Penn State Chief executive Rod Erickson said he made the decision to have the sculpture eliminated and put into storage space because it "has become a source of department and an hurdle to treatment."