Some Memories Just Hurt Too Much:
The Removal of the JoePa Statue From Beaver Stadium
For decades, Joe Paterno was considered a cultural icon at The Pennsylvania State University because of his dedication to the school, the State College community, and the Nittany Lions football team. Known for being the “winningest” coach in college football, JoePa, as he was called, defined the tradition that is Penn State football today. Paterno was celebrated and revered not only by the University, but also by football fans around the country. The decision to induct Paterno into the NCAA hall of fame prior to retirement represents the high level of respect the community expressed for this outstanding individual. Therefore, it came as no surprise when a monument to Paterno’s legacy was unveiled outside Beaver Stadium in November of 2001. The monument, which featured Paterno leading his Nittany Lions to battle was placed on the east side of the stadium and served as a constant reminder of Paterno’s legacy at the University. In his 2012 book, Joe Posnanski wrote,
This is the story of a man named Joe Paterno, who in his long life was called moral and
immoral, decent and scheming, omniscient and a figurehead, hero and fraud, Saint Joe and the devil. A life of course cannot be reduced to a single word, but Joe Paterno had something bold and soaring in his personality that attracted extremes. That boldness compelled him to do remarkable and unprecedented things. That boldness also led people to say, that at his end, his failures destroyed whatever good he had. (p. 3)
At the high point of his career, more than just more than just the Penn State community idolized Joe Paterno; he was a football legend. Therefore, it came as a crushing blow when Joe Paterno was released from his position as head coach and stripped of his wins during his time at Penn State following the Jerry Sandusky abuse scandal in 2012. Following his release from the team, University officials felt it best to remove the statue of Paterno so that it would not be a constant reminder of the tragedy faced by the community.
The decision by Penn State University to remove the Joe Paterno statue from outside of Beaver stadium presented a rhetorical argument for their relationship to the Joe Paterno and the Jerry Sandusky child abuse scandal. Contestations over location, character, and ownership of the monument give insight into how the community argued Joe Paterno should be remembered and by whom. Former Penn State University President Rodney Erickson stated,
We can't rewrite that chapter in terms of what happened in the past, but we are taking responsibility for what happened. We're determined to emerge from all of this as a stronger, better university. (ESPN, 2012 July 18)
Therefore, this research examines the original Joe Paterno statue and the implication of meaning behind its removal. I argue that the removal of the statue functioned as a form of rhetorical forgetting (Vivian, 2010) that separated Penn State University from the memory of their beloved JoePa in an attempt to restore their public image. The decision by Penn State University officials to remove the Joe Paterno statue, and eventually the entire monument, represented the need to remove ownership and association from the coach and the accompanying Jerry Sandusky child sex-abuse scandal. By removing the statue from its afforded position of power next to the stadium, the University dictated how Paterno should, or should not be, remembered. The meaning behind the removal of the statue was clear: Joe Paterno’s actions should not be associated with Penn State football. For Penn State, the significance of forgetting is more important than remembering. While most memory studies scholars are concerned with how people and events are commemorated, I argue that there needs to be more research on what is not remembered by removing or altering sites of memory. When communities such Penn State choose to remove a site of memory, they are controlling where and how an individual should be commemorated. Yet, it is important to question the implications behind removing contested sites of memory because simply removing the site of memory does not mean it did not actually happen. However, some memories just hurt too much when they serve as a constant reminder of the failure of the individual being commemorated.
References
ESPN News Services. (2012 July 18). Banner calls for removal of statue. ESPN. Retrieved from
http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8173833/anti-joe-paterno-statue-banner-flown-beaver-stadium.
Posnanski, J. (2012). Paterno. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.
Vivian, B. (2010).Public forgetting: The rhetoric and politics of beginning again. Penn State
Press.