Paternoville Renamed After Freeh Report: Students Distance Themselves From Paterno Scandal
The tented area at Penn State football games where students hang out and watch the game has a new name. Paternoville, named for famed coach Joe Paterno, has now been designated Nittanyville after students learned more about Paterno's criminal history.
Nittanyville, as it is now called, is the area outside Beaver Stadium where students gather to buy tickets and enjoy their team's games. Due to the recent scandal involving Joe Paterno and former defensive coordinator Joe Sandusky, the group in charge of Nittanyville decided it needed a new name to "return the focus to the overall team and the thousands of students who support it."
The students' website decided on Nittanyville in honor of their mascot, the Nittany Lion, instead of another, personal name.
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"Now, it's a new era of Nittany Lion football, and by changing the name to Nittanyville, we want to return the focus to the overall team and the thousands of students who support it. We thank the Paterno family for their gracious assistance and support over the last several years," the Nittanyville website reads.
Students have been very vocal and active in the days following the release of the Freeh Report, which concluded that Paterno and three other Penn State leaders "failed to protect against a child sexual predator harming children for over a decade."
A statue of Joe Paterno has come under controversy as well, since students have asked the administration to remove it. They even went so far as to fly a banner reading "Take the statue down or we will" over the school.
No official decision has been reached, but other instances of denouncing Paterno have taken place.
Paterno's name has been removed from the Nike Child Care Center, the Big Ten championship trophy, and an award from his alma mater. It's a sign that these places, who encourage the well-being of young people, want nothing more to do with the man accused of standing by while so many children were harmed.
