Joe Paterno statue is taken down from its home at Beaver Stadium, State College, PA. Before dawn, physical plant workers from the University, construction vehicles and 30 police arrived shortly after dawn Sunday. They barricaded the street and sidewalks near the statue, erected a chain-link fence then concealing the statue with a blue tarp. There were students who were camped and protesting the removal of the iconic remembrance. Penn State president Rodney Erickson issued this statement.
Coach Paterno’s statue has become a source of division and an obstacle to healing in our university and beyond,” Erickson said in the statement. “For that reason, I have decided that it is in the best interest of our university and public safety to remove the statue and store it in a secure location. I believe that, were it to remain, the statue will be a recurring wound to the multitude of individuals across the nation and beyond who have been the victims of child abuse.”
The statue, outside Beaver Stadium, nearly 7 feet tall and weighing more than 900 pounds, was built-in 2001. Paterno had over a 61-year coaching career and was inducted in the Hall of Fame. Paterno died of cancer on Jan. 22, 2012 at age 85. The statue removal is in response to public pressure in the Jerry Sandusky child rape scandal at occurred in the Penn State Football locker rooms among other places.
Sidewalks Chalk 