Joe Paterno and several school administrators were fired from Pennsylvania State University because they were told or knew about Jerry Sandusky’s alleged acts of sexual misconduct under their watch and did nothing. Good, they deserved to be fired for that. Now, many Syracuse University administrators and figures, most notably head basketball coach Jim Boeheim, are in hot water as we wait for the Bernie Fine investigation to unfold and find out exactly who knew what and when. Any number of people associated with SU may lose their jobs. It is worse if it is discovered that they knew acts of sexual misconduct were occurring and did nothing to stop it. And they should be.

However, I find it unusual that one of the major players in this scandal, ESPN, has not been held up to the standard that we expect from our officials, leaders and other media. ESPN executives have known about and held under wraps the Laurie Fine-Davis tape recording since 2005 and didn’t release it until November 2011. The damning tape, which led to Fine’s dismissal, was never reported to the police or SU. Had the tape been released to authorities, the potential for further abuses may have been avoided or stopped. ESPN seemingly kept hold of the tape and waited for an opportune time to release it publicly. ESPN executives held evidence suggesting inappropriate acts of sexual misconduct were committed by a university employee, but did not report it to the proper authorities and instead kept it to themselves for six years. Isn’t that what Joe Paterno was fired for?

Barzin Pourfarrokh

Class of 2012

U.S. history and biology major