Penn State University head football coach Joe Paterno is surrounded by the media while leaving the team's football building on November 8, 2011 in University Park, Pennsylvania. Amid allegations that former assistant Jerry Sandusky was involved with child sex abuse, Paterno's weekly news conference was canceled about an hour before it was scheduled to occur.Rob Carr/Getty Images
Justin Lee has witnessed many emotional reactions this week while speaking with old classmates and perusing the dizzying social media discussion about the alleged sex-abuse scandal at Penn State University, his cherished alma mater.
The Vancouver native and a 1995 graduate of the school says its community has expressed anger, embarrassment, sadness and disappointment. Lee says students and alumni want not only more facts and a resolution to the controversy that has implicated school officials, but there is also an outpouring of people who want to use their own positive actions as a gesture.
Lee says the online discussion is abuzz with ideas such as a blue ribbon rally on campus, with students and football fans wearing the symbol to take a stand against child abuse and molestation.
"I am sad and embarrassed that this happened at my school, and I feel so terrible for the families of the children victimized – it's hard to accept how no one called the police to protect them," said Lee, who studied history and economics and has always been a big fan of the football team. "I think all the people involved need to be removed so the school and the program can start fresh.
"But the actions – and inactions – of a few should not change what people think of the great university. The Penn State community is strong and has good people who do great things, people who want to show they care about protecting kids."
Lee, who owns a real estate business in San Diego, has often travelled to watch Penn State football games since graduating. Calling himself a proud member of the alumni association, he says his love for the school hasn't changed, but he's unsure about continuing to attend games.
"I do feel bad for the current players who had nothing to do with these alleged crimes," Lee said. "Pulling support from the team is, unfortunately, how many people may choose to show their disapproval."
For many, the fall of long-tenured head coach Joe Paterno is hard to watch.
Murray MacTavish, a 2007 graduate who hails from Dresden, Ont., spent three years earning his PhD in education at Penn State. He remembers once standing a few feet from Paterno at a social function on campus, noticing the respect he garnered.
"I held him in very high esteem as a leader, since he seemed to have upstanding moral character, particularly since he always had a zero-tolerance policy for athletes who broke the rules," said MacTavish, who is now director of the MBA program at Trinity Western University in Langley, B.C. "If he steps down, it will be a tragic way to end such an illustrious career."
For some Canadians who attended the school, accountability seems long overdue.
"I was someone who was more interested in things beyond football and have always thought the football program was a little too privileged," said Samuel Troscow, a law professor at the University of Western Ontario, who studied at Penn State from 1970 to 1975.
"I'm very sad this happened, but I hope it shows that even football coaches at Penn State aren't above the law. I feel very connected to the university and cherish the time I spent at that great institution, but often big, prestigious institutions take on an aura of untouchability – and now one is having to be accountable."
Rachel Brady