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  • Wounded Lions: Joe Paterno, Jerry Sandusky, and the Crisis in Penn State Athletics by Ronald A. Smith
  • Richard C. Crepeau
Smith, Ronald A. Wounded Lions: Joe Paterno, Jerry Sandusky, and the Crisis in Penn State Athletics. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2016. Pp. 288. Timeline, notes, illustrations, index. $95.00, cb. $21.95, pb, e-book.

Of all the scandals that have besmirched the landscape of intercollegiate athletics, it is difficult to find another as shocking as the events surrounding the Jerry Sandusky case at [End Page 531] Penn State. Some might argue that the cheating scandal at West Point in the early 1950s surpasses it in shock value, but, given the particular circumstances of the Penn State case, that is doubtful.

The revelations and discussions of the details of this case flooded all forms of media for over a year and indeed continue to attract a great deal of attention, especially from those who believe that a defense of Penn State requires a denial of the culpability of Penn State officialdom and supporters. Those who believe in the purity of Joe Paterno and the sanctity of his legacy also have sustained the public discussion of the case.

In this light, the arrival of a scholarly examination of this case and its historical roots is a welcome development. Ron Smith, now retired from the Penn State faculty, has done the research and analysis that one would expect from a conscientious historian. Smith brings his personal knowledge of the inner workings of the Penn State administrative culture and puts all of this background to the best possible use.

One of the great strengths of this study stems from Smith's decision to focus not so much on this particular scandal but rather to examine the growth and development of the Penn State administrative culture beginning in the late nineteenth century. Of primary interest is the relationship between the leadership of the university and the leadership of the athletic program.

In this monumental task, Smith examined presidential papers and those of many of the principal actors over several decades, including emails, notes, financial records, minutes of endless committee meetings, and media accounts. Smith tracks the major decisions shaping and changing the relationship of the various elements of the athletic program and the shifting responsibilities for the conduct of those programs, all of which changed over time. The growth of the financial and the public relations status of football in both the realities of the university and the fantasies of the public are analyzed.

Many critics of the growth of commercially driven intercollegiate athletics have long believed that, on most campuses, the tail has been wagging the dog for decades. Part of what Smith reveals is that the tail has become the dog and run off into its own autonomous universe. The university now seeks to bask in the fame of the new dog and thereby justify its own existence and enhance its own reputation.

At many institutions, the result is the corruption of the academic mission of the university as ethics are bent, standards are compromised, and transparency is blurred to protect the athletic program and the reputation of coaches, administrators, faculty members, and the university itself.

The story of the Penn State scandal at one level started with Jerry Sandusky's transgressions and abuse. At a second level, the story as brilliantly detailed by Ron Smith goes back to the beginnings of athletics on the Penn State campus and has its roots in the evolution of the administrative and athletic relationship over multiple decades. Smith shows where power resides and how that came to be over the course of decades. Perhaps the key development was the separation of athletics from the academic sector of the university.

In the second element of the scandal, the one apart from the actions of Sandusky, the most important lessons are found. What Smith has demonstrated is not the problems of Penn State so much as the problems inherent within university administration in our time. Power is no longer accountable beyond its focal point, which is no longer found within [End Page 532] the university. In some iterations, power exists outside the athletic complex...

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