Penn State’s past an important part of its future

Ah, fall.

OK, I know, maybe according to the position of the sun and our place in the skies, we are still two weeks away from autumn.

But I think I’m like most people. I’m conditioned to think of the change of season as coming hand-in-hand with the start of the school year. The last day of summer is Labor Day. The first of fall is the Tuesday that chases those lazy days away.

Like many moms, I use those first school days to measure the changes in my kid.

I marvel at how tall he is this year compared to last year compared to that first time he strapped on a backpack that seemed to swallow him whole and walked away from me without a tear into his preschool class and never looked back.

I’m proud of how far he has come, and I worry about what is on the table for this year. What will challenge him? What will his struggles be? Will he meet them or will the battles break him?

It also leads me to turn a similar eye to other things.

Like Penn State.

I remember the first time I stepped on campus when I was in first grade. I chart my time from when the HUB was only half the size it is now, or when the Creamery was in a different spot, or when Shortlidge Road actually went straight through from College to Park.

And then I get to the pride and the worry.

I look back at where Penn State was in 2012, shocked and wounded by a blow to the heart.

It would have been easy to slink away in defeat. That didn’t happen. And it didn’t happen in very different ways.

Some took on the issue of what happened and set their sights to counteracting the scandal through pushing forward with good news. Achievements over the past few years have included record numbers of grant funding; national championships in wrestling, soccer, volleyball and fencing; and increasing numbers of students picking up prestigious scholarships and fellowships.

Others took aim at protecting their alma mater’s history and tradition. Everything they do is in shades of blue and white, and every word rings with For the Glory and Success with Honor.

And for many of them on both sides, it is a tale of “you are with us or against us.” It shouldn’t be.

Love Joe Paterno and what he gave the school, or say that the ending changed the narrative. No matter which side you are on, there is a lesson to learn about moving chains and achieving an objective.

It doesn’t happen without both offense and defense.

Penn State’s The Daily Collegian featured an editorial last week about the university’s plans to commemorate Paterno’s 50th anniversary as head coach.

“This is our Penn State. It is a Penn State without Joe Paterno. It is a Penn State that is still trying to rebuild, make amends and propel forward. Those of us here now are beyond ready to move on,” it said.

It’s not wrong. But it’s not all right, either.

When I look ahead to my son’s start in third grade, I can’t just focus on what lies ahead. I can’t just let go of last year’s struggles to move on after his dad’s death. I can’t walk away from the post-traumatic stress disorder he has after watching the crash that killed his grandfather. There is a lot of pain and hurt, but it’s part of the mosaic that makes a pretty great kid.

At the same time, I can’t spend all my time on those building blocks without using them to build a stairway to the pretty great man I want him to be.

Penn State was a great school. It is a great school. It has a lot of great people. It has, and has had, people who have made mistakes, big and small. And if there is one thing every university knows, it’s the importance of teaching history and preserving tradition at the same time you forge a future.

This story was originally published September 5, 2016 at 7:41 PM with the headline "Penn State’s past an important part of its future."