Penn State to Honor Coach Joe Paterno Five Years After His Firing

Penn State University plans to honor the late Joe Paterno at a game this month — five years after the school fired him as head football coach amid the Jerry Sandusky child sex-abuse scandal.

At a Sept. 17 matchup against Temple University, Penn State will "commemorate Joe Paterno's first game as the head football coach at Penn State," the athletic department said on its website.

Jennifer Storm, the victim advocate for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, criticized the move.

“I believe it is incredibly insensitive and unfortunately evident that they have still learned nothing about changing the culture on their campus," she said in a statement.

"All this will do is create more of a divide within an already divided community and tell survivors on campus that they celebrate those associated with one of the worst child rapists of our time.”

Penn State, which took down a bronze statue of Paterno outside Beaver Stadium in 2012, declined to provide details of the commemoration or discuss the decision to mark the anniversary.

Paterno, who notched the most victories in Division I college football history, lost his job in 2011 amid questions about what he knew about assistant coach Sandusky's behavior and for how long and whether he took any action.

A university-sanctioned report later concluded the legendary coach was aware of allegations against his assistant coach as early as 1998. Court papers unsealed this summer revealed that a man who says he was molested by Sandusky in the 1970s claimed he told Paterno and got the brush-off.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFood banks overwhelmed by Trump cuts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSInflation and tariffs push U.S. holiday spending projections to a record $1.7 trillion

FOR SUBSCRIBERSWhat happened inside the room where officials tried to execute Christa Pike by lethal injection

FOR SUBSCRIBERSHow we reported the saga of the CIA officer and his gold-bar stash

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘We’re going to beat you to death with audits’: Brad Raffensperger gears up to oversee his final election in Georgia

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDiddy is punished following NBC News report on his VIP life in prison and contraband cellphone use

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘Too young to vote, old enough to be tear gassed’: French protesters’ anger swells

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDOJ gets aggressive in suing states that challenge Trump’s immigration policies

FOR SUBSCRIBERSJustice Department seeks criminal charge for former Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘I just want to hold him’: USS Lincoln sailor to meet his 10-month-old son as ship docks

FOR SUBSCRIBERSSenate candidates run on raising Social Security taxes for higher incomes to prevent benefit cuts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRussian operation that used ChatGPT tricked schools, a politician and media, OpenAI says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump administration’s deal with Nevada fuels data center fight in governor’s race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSLatino voters reject Trump’s immigration policies — and detail the personal impact

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAs Democrats eye big midterm gains, the Wisconsin governor’s race remains a nail-biter

Slide 1 of 1

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFood banks overwhelmed by Trump cuts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSInflation and tariffs push U.S. holiday spending projections to a record $1.7 trillion

FOR SUBSCRIBERSWhat happened inside the room where officials tried to execute Christa Pike by lethal injection

FOR SUBSCRIBERSHow we reported the saga of the CIA officer and his gold-bar stash

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘We’re going to beat you to death with audits’: Brad Raffensperger gears up to oversee his final election in Georgia

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDiddy is punished following NBC News report on his VIP life in prison and contraband cellphone use

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘Too young to vote, old enough to be tear gassed’: French protesters’ anger swells

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDOJ gets aggressive in suing states that challenge Trump’s immigration policies

FOR SUBSCRIBERSJustice Department seeks criminal charge for former Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘I just want to hold him’: USS Lincoln sailor to meet his 10-month-old son as ship docks

FOR SUBSCRIBERSSenate candidates run on raising Social Security taxes for higher incomes to prevent benefit cuts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRussian operation that used ChatGPT tricked schools, a politician and media, OpenAI says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump administration’s deal with Nevada fuels data center fight in governor’s race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSLatino voters reject Trump’s immigration policies — and detail the personal impact

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAs Democrats eye big midterm gains, the Wisconsin governor’s race remains a nail-biter

Slide 1 of 1

"I have a football season to worry about," Paterno allegedly said.

Paterno's family denied that and has long insisted he did nothing wrong. Paterno, who died of lung cancer in 2012, was never charged with a crime but once said in a statement: "With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more."

Sandusky is serving a 30-to-60-year sentence for molesting 10 boys.