My Head/Heart vs PSU

The most important goal for me right now is to find a way to provide for my wife and my children. I’ve always imagined that the signs of my success would labeled with the silent absence of distress on any of their faces. To protect myself in the future, I applied to one graduate school, namely in the Masters of Business Administration program in order to gain formal experience and skill in business and management. I tried my best to chose a program that had a balance of cost vs benefit and gave me the best chance of succeeding.

Last week, I was admitted into the Pennsylvania State University iMBA program and I was happy to be a part of such a prestigious university and even prouder to know that it would likely be my final academic endeavor. This week, Penn State’s board of trustees fired it’s president Graham Spanier and head football coach Joe Paterno amid a child sex abuse scandal that has significantly marred the reputation of the school and has made me second guess my decision to participate in the program…

I have strong feelings toward the who/what/when/where of the child sex abuse  situation as a father, as a human being, and as a prospective student. I try to imagine the feelings of the parents of the children subjected to unspeakable acts. I try not to imagine situations where people diffuse responsibility. I try to think about the benefits and the opportunities I will gain at the completion of the program… 

The issue at hand is simply this.. After all that has happened in the last 24-48 hours, can I, in good conscious, attend Pennsylvania State University knowing what happened there? Could I look my sons in the eyes knowing that I found a way to disconnect the alarm going off in my head and heart? Is there any way for me to complete the program and NOT cut the cables to my morality?

Unfortunately, I don’t have many other graduate level choices in the fields that I’m interested with an online delivery option with a reasonable time limit for completion. I guess I’m having a hard time with the possibility that the PSU scandal may have ended more things that I ever could have imagined. 

Should I stay (@PSU) or should I go (somewhere else)? @ me on Twitter…