3 Step Process
With your help, Joe Paterno can be returned to his rightful spot outside of Beaver Stadium
Picture: (Livingston)
1) DONATION DRIVE
Money is always an obstacle when trying to accomplish progress. This situation is no different. By pledging to donate, the obstacle of money will no longer be an issue. The best way to gather the donations is through a trusted alumni group’s collections. Your money is very important, so gathering through a trusted source would ensure that your money is being put to use for the correct purpose.
The money donated will go towards three things:
- Marketing Campaign to boost public opinion of Joe Paterno
- Restoration of the Statue
- Construction costs to re-install the original statue
Alumni Donation Contributions:
- ¹ $2.158 Billion University Donations since 2007
- ¹ 167,500 Alumni who Donated
- ² 631,000+ Estimated living alumni
- ² 174,000 Members of the Alumni Association
- ³ $300,000 Estimated cost of future statue in State College
- $5 Million* Goal for Fundraising
- $29* Donation per Alumni of Alumni Association to Reach Goal
¹ http://news.psu.edu/story/311758/2014/04/12/academics/future-exceeds-goal-raises-2158-billion-private-support
² http://alumni.psu.edu/news
³ http://onwardstate.com/2014/04/23/joe-paterno-statue-planned-for-downtown/
*Goal for fundraising is taken from cost of restoration, construction, and advertising costs
*Assuming that 174,000 Alumni would each donate an equal amount
*Any money that is not used in campaign to return the statue will be donated to charities working to stop child abuse
The desire to bring back Joe Paterno has already been made evident by your fellow alumni and the people of State College. The plan is to construct a bronze statue of Joe Paterno outside of the Tavern Restaurant in downtown State College. The statue features Joe Paterno sitting on a bench reading “Aeneid.” This project to be installed in November 2015 and is expected to cost around $300,000 (Tully). Since the desire for a Joe Paterno statue is clear, why not bring back the original?
The original statue is statue is still in tact. While we do not know exactly where the statue is being stored, Penn State spokeswoman Lisa Powers assured, “the statue is in a safe, undisclosed location” (Carroll). Power’s comment means that a new statue would not have to be created; therefore, the only costs imposed by installing the statue would be restoration of the statue and the cost to install the original statue.
As you can see, if many alumni take action and each donate a small amount, we will be able to reach the proposed goal easily! Raising the proposed amount of money will fund the rest of the steps required to return Joe Pa to his rightful place! All donations will go towards the campaign to bring back the statue, and any money that is not used will be donated to charities working to stop child abuse.
If you need to see how us students feel about Joe Paterno, take a look at our chants after it was announced that we are once again bowl-eligible.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7h1TebUNeu4
2) MARKETING CAMPAIGN
The largest obstacle that we must overcome is the poor public of Joe Paterno. Following the scandal involving Jerry Sandusky, the overall opinion of Paterno has unfortunately become extremely unkind. The media coverage of the incident as well as the Freeh Report, has resulted in misconceptions and poor overall publicity of Joe Pa and Penn State.
In order to boost the public opinion of Joe Pa, I am proposing to create a marketing campaign that talks about the positive legacy of Paterno, while clarifying the truth behind common misconceptions. The best way to boost the public opinion of Joe Pa is to target the audience that will be most inclined to follow college sports. The most effective way to target this audience will be airing a commercial during the College Football Championship Game.
College Championship Game Projections:
¹ 50 Million Viewers
¹ $2 Million Cost of 30 second advertisement
¹ http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/06/11/how-the-new-college-football-playoff-system-will-a.aspx
Think about the most memorable commercials you have ever seen. Mean Joe Greene tossing his jersey to a kid, Budweiser Clydesdales, and the Jordan vs Bird showdown are all iconic images that most of you clearly remember. These commercials all aired during the Super Bowl, an football event that millions of people were watching. Similarly, the premier of the College Football Championship game will draw millions of viewers. Regardless of the hefty price tag, this is the most effective medium to air a commercial about the good that Joe Paterno has done, in order to boost the public opinion of him. Since the viewers will consist of millions of people who follow college football and the news of it, this is the perfect opportunity to reach our target audience.
In addition to the commercial, we will also write a series of articles defining the positive things that Paterno has done, as well as clear up the misconceptions. These articles are a more inexpensive way of spreading the same message as the commercial. These articles can be featured through Penn State news outlets like Onward State and The Collegiate. Ultimately the goal is to get an article posted in several different newspapers and magazines. An article in Sports Illustrated or ESPN Magazine will reach sports fans, whereas an article in USA Today or People Magazine will reach a large audience of people who are familiar with the situation in Penn State based upon media coverage.
Who will create the articles and commercials for the marketing campaign? I am sure that you all are wondering that exact same question. My proposal is to ask Penn State alumni who work in the fields of Marketing and Communications to lead the charge in creating the campaign! Nobody is more proud of our college and its tradition than a fellow Penn Stater! By working together as one, I am confident that our alumni can create a campaign that will drastically boost the opinion of Joe Paterno! Using the statistics that I included within “The Legacy of Joe Paterno” and personal anecdotes, I am confident that the alumni running the marketing campaign will have sufficient information to effectively show the positive effects of Joe Paterno. With the skills of Marketing and Communications that our alumni have developed, as well as the endowment of our fundraising, we will once again give Joe Pa back his positive image!
3) PETITION to ADMINISTRATION
The final step of my proposal is to create a petition to the administration. The best way to create a petition is through our school’s strong network of alumni. By reaching out to each alumni through letter or email, we will be able to gather a significant amount of names for our petition. Additionally, once the petition has been created and filled with the names of alumni in support of returning the statue, current students can also sign in order to increase the number of names on the petition. By a group of alumni creating the petition, it will be extremely powerful. Together, you alumni possess a great deal of power!
Individually we are only one small voice in a crowd, but together we can make an extreme impact. One person chanting “WE ARE” does no good without another person to chant “PENN STATE.” One group of people cheering makes a considerable amount of noise, but not enough to will a team to victory. However on Saturdays, 100,000 screaming fans screaming “WE ARE…PENN STATE” together, is loud enough to measure 111 decibels (Fleming) and powerful enough to will our Nittany Lions to victory!
Similarly, as alumni each of you have a voice. Individually, your voice is important, but you cannot directly change anything alone. Yet with 631,000+ alumni banding together, the voice that you all possess is louder than Beaver Stadium singing “Sweet Caroline” and even more powerful than the screams of fans on 3rd down.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuEDq85HpMA
With this analogy in mind, the final request I am asking of you is to band together and write a petition to the administration of Penn State. As alumni, you have supported this school through good times and bad. This was best exemplified by your donations the year after the sanctions were handed down. In the 2011-2012 fiscal year Penn State earned a reported $208.7 million in donations (Gallman). As a family of alumni, you all have remained steadfast in your support of the University that primed you for success. It is time that you make your voice heard and be rewarded for your support! Together, your voices all unified as one are so powerful that the administration will be inclined to listen. Stand up for the for the man who made your time at Penn State memorable and bring back the great memories of cheering on your Nittany Lions! It is time to write a petition to the administration and finally return the statue!