Brennan: What Penn State should be saying about latest Jerry Sandusky allegations

Penn State is back in the news for all the wrong reasons. There are new allegations that longtime football coach Joe Paterno was aware of sexual assault complaints against convicted pedophile Jerry Sandusky in the 1970s, which, if true, would reach much further back than originally thought.

Naturally, a media firestorm has ensued. So, naturally, Penn State felt the need to issue a statement.

On Sunday, university president Eric Barron released a letter in which he said he was “appalled.” Appalled by what? Not the troubling new accusations, but by the way the news media were reacting to them.

“I want you to know I am appalled by the rumor, innuendo and rush to judgment that have accompanied the media stories surrounding these allegations,” Barron wrote. He continued by debunking the allegations and saying that Penn State cannot find any evidence about alleged earlier assaults, even though the new allegations have been public for less than a week.

Penn State president appalled at media frenzy over new Paterno allegations

Barron’s letter went on for seven paragraphs. Only one of them, the sixth, spoke about the children and Penn State’s “commitment” to them. The other six bashed the media and unabashedly defended a university that is known to have performed horribly the last time this topic came up.

Did Penn State learn nothing from the previous scandal? In all these years, has that behemoth of a university, one of the finest in the nation, still not hired even a mid-level public-relations firm to help it help itself?

Millions followed the disgusting and heart-wrenching saga of what Sandusky, a top Penn State assistant coach, did to those young boys. I think many of us, off the top of our heads, could have written a better statement than Barron did last weekend.

Report: Joe Paterno allegedly told of Jerry Sandusky sex abuse in 1976

Here’s my try:

“The new allegations that there might be more possible victims of Jerry Sandusky and that Joe Paterno might have known about their sexual assault complaints much earlier than originally thought are incredibly disturbing to everyone associated with Penn State.

"We have learned and done much in the past five years. We now know that our first thoughts must always be with the victims, not with our university, and not with our football team.

“We owe it to Jerry Sandusky’s victims to get to the truth, and Penn State will do everything in its power to do just that. We will work with all pertinent authorities, advocates and the victims themselves, if possible, to find out if these allegations are true and to delve into every document in an effort to find out what happened on this campus and in our football program.

“Over the past few years, Penn State has made a substantial commitment to fight the evils of the sexual abuse of children. We will not stop now.”

I’m sure others would add a few things here or there, but you get the idea. There are so many ways this could have been said, so many kind-hearted approaches to such a horrifying topic.

Basically, anything but what Barron actually did.