I’ll have a longer post in a day or two, but the news from my alma mater, Penn State (Ph.D. 1995), is as shocking as it is NOT surprising.
It is, to a large extent, an Arendtian moment. Evil isn’t a drooling monster with horns and pitchfork who shows up on your doorstep. Instead, evil is the most winning football coach in Division 1 history who looks like grandpa but, by failing to act in a meaningful way, condoned the rape of an unknown 10-year old boy by default. And we have similar acts of evil by other members of Penn State’s leadership.
This lack of moral judgement is utterly appalling. But sadly, I am NOT surprised.
More to come.
Cath, I’ve being somewhere between raging and in tears since I’ve found out about this Saturday morning. I can only begin to imagine how you feel. I wish I was shocked, but given our respective experiences in academia, sadly, I’m more ready to bring in medieval forms of torture back as punishment than anything else. I can’t wait to see what else you have to say about PSU.
By: decollins1969 on November 9, 2011
at 1:48 pm
[...] quite knew when the stones were going to be hurled your way….but you knew they were coming. As I noted in my last post: It is, to a large extent, an Arendtian moment. Evil isn’t a drooling monster with horns and [...]
By: Penn State and Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery.” « Thinking Queerly: Schools, politics and culture on November 10, 2011
at 8:02 am
[...] football. Until they are educated to understand that harsh truth, I fear very little will change. As I noted in November, It is, to a large extent, an Arendtian moment. Evil isn’t a drooling monster with horns and [...]
By: Now that Sandusky has been tried and convicted…. « Thinking Queerly: Schools, politics and culture on June 24, 2012
at 7:56 pm