Jay Paterno
-
Penn State’s Summer of Transition Arrives with Many Challenges Ahead
—
by
Penn State finds itself in a time of transition this summer, a time when leadership in two very high-profile jobs are changing. It’s hard to go around town and not be asked about new President Neeli Bendapudi or soon-to-be Athletic Director Patrick Kraft, who starts on July 1. Understandably, there is an energy and excitement…
-
What Is the Soul of America?
—
by
Wednesday morning in Happy Valley, through the open windows of my home office, I heard the chirping of a cardinal at the bird feeder, the voices of children walking to the neighborhood elementary school and the sound of a school bus slowing and braking to a halt. Up and down the street, mothers or fathers…
-
Our Poisonous Age of Absolutism
—
by
To a nation already drunk on the partisan pursuit of absolutist politics, it appears likely that the US Supreme Court is about to uncork a 1973 vintage from Grapes of Wrath Vineyards called “Renverser Roe v. Wade.” The landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision was a controversial ruling then; it has remained so. Overturning it…
-
Beware of Geeks Bearing Gifts
—
by
With all the excitement about an alleged new era of “free speech” coming with Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter, it would be wise to pump the brakes for those believing we are readily speeding towards some fantasyland First Amendment Twitter utopia. This is a classic Rorschach test where everyone sees this development the way they…
-
Parents: Let the Coaches Coach
—
by
While talking to an athletic director of a Power 5 NCAA school recently, the subject of players transferring and today’s student-athletes came up. When the conversation turned to what those pressures put on coaches, he became animated. “You know, Jay,” he said, “every time a parent wants to meet about a coach they always start…
-
Success with Honor: NIL Collective an Opportunity to Give a Boost to Student-Athletes from All Sports and Backgrounds
—
by
This month Penn State won the national wrestling championship (again): another amazing day for a program that has been the model of sustained excellence. It seems like there is nothing that could derail that program on its annual summit climb. But wrestling, like every other sport, has now entered the world of Name, Image and…
-
In the Face of Inhumanity, There Is Only One Side to Take
—
by
In his 1986 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Holocaust survivor, author and activist Elie Wiesel wrote what he felt as a boy being taken into “the Kingdom of Night”: “I remember he asked his father: ‘Can this be true? This is the twentieth century, not the Middle Ages. Who would allow such crimes to be…
-
A Legend Walks Away
—
by
In college sports, because players come and go every three of four years, successful and respected coaches become the unchanging presence and face of their teams. The ones who stay and succeed become intertwined with their school and transcend time. For Alabama football it was Bear Bryant, for Tennessee basketball it was Pat Summit or…
-
Celebrating 50 Years, THON Is a Shining Example of Selfless Leadership
—
by
Penn State is a place where many great things happen, but nothing we do at Penn State outshines the 46-hour Dance Marathon (THON). Celebrating its 50th anniversary, this year’s THON will likely raise more than $10 million for the Four Diamonds Fund to battle pediatric cancer at Penn State Health Children’s Hospital in Hershey and…
-
The Football Fates Are the Cruelest
—
by
As the Super Bowl is played this weekend, one team will end the day basking in the glory of a championship, while another will walk away with football immortality having just slipped from its grasp. That nearness of just missing destiny realized is a cruel fate, one that often becomes the shadow of a lifetime.…