I have wanted to go to Penn State since I first visited the main campus in 2008. I am now a Junior at University Park and since November of my Sophomore year I have seen my most adored establishment for higher education completely torn down and dismantled. The once prestigious name that is Penn State was forever tarnished and soiled because of one man’s horrific and despicable actions.
I saw firsthand my friends and fellow classmates erupt in violence out of love for our head football coach, Joe Paterno, rest his soul. I saw them throw rocks at police, flip a news van, and tear down light posts. Penn State’s name was destroyed even more that night when we truly became national news, not just because of Sandusky, but because we had collapsed and refused to accept the burden he dropped on our shoulders.
I saw my University get flipped on its side. I thought Penn State would never recover and that this sinking sickening feeling would last for the rest of my college career. Just as these times seemed darkest, THON was there to brighten my journey.
The weekend of February 17-19, 2012, will forever be embedded in my memory. In 1973, the brothers in my fraternity, Kappa Delta Rho, and their friends and sisters in Tri-Delta had a dream: to help kids fight cancer. THON started as a dance marathon with the last one standing being the winner. In 1973 it raised a little over 2000 dollars. Last year THON raised over 9,000,000 (nine million) dollars. Traditionally, THON has always beaten the previous year’s total, but after Penn State had this negative connotation associated with it, 2012 was undoubtedly THON’s toughest year. People unfamiliar with THON were less willing to donate because of the Sandusky scandal, Joe Pa had always donated a large sum of money, but he had passed. A canning trip, where the students travel to cities outside State College to promote and raise money for THON, was cancelled due to weather.
At the end of that weekend, I witnessed my fraternity and our THON partners raise over 144,000 dollars, the most in our history, on seemingly two canning trips. I have been to over twenty countries. I’ve seen the beauty of human work looking at Paris from atop the Eiffel Tower. I understood the power of men as I scaled the Great Wall of China. I’ve seen the power of nature swimming with exotic fish in the Great Barrier reef. I’ve seen humanity’s darkest years as I walked through the gas chambers of Auschwitz. Everything I experienced could not have prepared me for what I would experience that Sunday.
After 46 hours of not sleeping or sitting, I witnessed over 20,000 people explode into a deafening cheer for raising $10,686,924.83 and reminding the world what Penn State is all about. That weekend reminded me why I believe we are still and will always be Penn State.