Do Penn State grads/current students carry a stigma?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
| When I see the Penn State football team on TV the first thing I think about is the decades long suffering and the institutional white washing with the "success with honor" nonsense. The stark uniforms are a testament to the worst weaknesses of humanity. It's a stain that can't be washed away. |
Anonymous
| Ivy League. Founded in 1740 by Benjamin Franklin. They'll get past this Sandusky thing. |
Anonymous
It will take 50 years. |
Anonymous
|
I went to Penn State in the early 90s. I saw zero football game, attended zero parties and thought all the Paterno worshippers were batshit crazy. If this horrible scandal had happened at any other big football school, there would be apologists for the criminals involved - it's not just something in the water in State College. I did permanently unfriend a couple of those apologists on Facebook when the story broke.
I felt that I received a decent education for the money and made the most of it, even though I probably would have been better off at a smaller school. Upper level classes in my major had 30 students and it was actually better than I though it would be. If I still lived in PA, my kids would likely apply to Penn State. However, I don't see why anyone pays $50K+ to go there OOS. |
Anonymous
|
My thinking is I do not fault the students or academic faculty. They had little influence on the problem. I say little, instead of none, because they attend games. I also do not fault the athletes.
The problem, though, was more on administration -- the football program was elevated to be above the rules. The athletic department/administration placed the coaches above the law (and children). That is an institutional problem. |
Anonymous
It's also a huge school full of people who don't worship at the altar of the football gods. I went there for my MHA because despite getting in, I couldn't afford Tulane or George Washington. I never went to a football game the whole time I was there and think Joe Paterno and all the rest of them are jackasses. |
Anonymous
Same here, except I went to grad school and the class sizes weren't too bad. I ended up getting a Public Health Traineeship that defrayed much of the cost of the tuition, so I didn't graduate with a ton of debt. |
Anonymous
|
DCUM is probably not the best place to ask this question. There is already a stigma here against state schools, in general. You are surrounded by people who think any school out of the USNews Top 25 is a joke.
I wouldn't hold PSU association against an individual, unless they gave me a reason to. I have to admit that the culture around PSU seems like an unpleasant combination of the fanaticism of southern football schools with the sanctimonious attitude of elite northern private schools. But again, I wouldn't automatically assume that each individual is like that. |
Anonymous
| We are Penn State. Yes you are ! |
Anonymous
| Sounds like a bunch of Maryland football fans are writing these posts. Know lots of PSU alumni that are very successful making lots of money. |
Anonymous
| The administration totally ruined the schools reputation. Anybody who can't figure that out and goes there anyway is not too bright. |
Anonymous
False. You are talking about the wrong school. |
Anonymous
That's more of a function of there being so many of them. |
Anonymous
Founded in 1855. Ben was long gone by then. They have already lost 1/2 billion dollars on this.... that alone will take many years to replace. |
Anonymous
|