Penn State student Marissa Herb attends a candlelight vigil held in honor of the victims. |
Outsiders cast their opinions on us; media, students of other institutions, and families of students all have their opinions on us as a student body. I have but one ounce of wisdom to offer to those who vilify us for our actions...more accurately, for our inaction (those of us who did not riot): Let not 2,000 individual actions define the remaining 93,000 of us who did not react in such a volatile manner.
How many of us could have ever imagined such a travesty as allegations of child rape and molestation would have ever occurred within what we believed to be the safe confines of our campus? And the core of the university which we hold so near and dear, would be shaken so badly as a result? Our campus and the image it once held, raped of its innocence and for now, its integrity.