Joe Paterno Was Never Fired by Penn State, Still Getting Paid

So that whole thing about Joe Paterno getting fired as head coach of Penn State’s football team? That was a matter of semantics. Though he’s no longer coaching the team, Paterno was never fired. In fact, he’s still getting paid by the school.

“Coach Paterno remains employed by the University as a tenured faculty member,” the Penn State Board of Trustees said in a statement released Thursday. “The details of his retirement are being worked out and will be made public when they are finalized. Generally speaking, the University intends to honor the terms of his employment contract and is treating him financially as if he had retired at the end of the 2011 football season.”

As Adam Hoge of CBS Chicago writes, Paterno was suspended without pay, and now that the season is over, he can retire. Unsurprisingly, the Board of Trustees responded to complaints from alumni who wonder why he was fired. This should come as no shock; Penn State created a culture where football was valued over everything, including protecting sexually abused children.