Paterno was born December 21, 1926, in Brooklyn, New York; he still speaks with a marked Brooklyn accent. His family is of Italian ancestry. In 1944, Paterno graduated from the now defunct Brooklyn Preparatory School. After serving a year in the Army, he attended Brown University; his tuition was paid for by Busy Arnold.
He was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity (Upsilon chapter). He played quarterback and cornerback, and as of 2011 shares, with Greg Parker, the career record for interceptions at 14. Paterno graduated with the Brown University Class of 1950. Although his father asked, "For God's sake, what did you go to college for?" after hearing of his career choice, Paterno joined his college coach Rip Engle as an assistant coach at Penn State in 1950; Engle had coached five seasons, 1944–1949, at Brown. Engle retired after the 1965 season, and Paterno was named his successor.
Sandusky scandal and dismissal
On November 5, 2011, former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was arrested on 40 counts relating to sexual abuse of eight young boys over a 15-year period, including alleged incidents that occurred at Penn State. A 2011 grand jury investigation reported that then-graduate assistant Mike McQueary told Paterno in 2002 that he had seen Sandusky abusing a 10-year-old boy in Penn State football's shower facilities. The grand jury report would later detail that McQueary saw Sandusky sodomizing the boy. According to the report, Paterno notified Athletic Director Tim Curley the next day about the incident.
Although prosecutors have reported that Paterno is not accused of any wrongdoing, advocates for sexual abuse victims have called for charges to be brought against him for not contacting the police himself. On November 7, Pennsylvania state police Commissioner Frank Noonan said that Paterno fulfilled his legal obligation to report suspected abuse, although "somebody has to question about what I would consider the moral requirements for a human being that knows of sexual things that are taking place with a child," and that, "I think you have the moral responsibility, anyone. Not whether you're a football coach or a university president or the guy sweeping the building. I think you have a moral responsibility to call us." Criticism of Paterno, including calls for his dismissal, arose for allegedly "protecting Penn State’s brand instead of a child",and allowing Sandusky, who retired in 1999, to retain emeritus status and access to the university's football program and facilities despite knowledge of the allegations.
On the night of November 8, hundreds of students gathered in front on Paterno's home in support of the coach. Paterno thanked the crowd and added, "The kids who were victims or whatever they want to say, I think we all ought to say a prayer for them. It’s a tough life when people do certain things to you." In part because of the scandal, Paterno announced the following day that he would retire at the end of the season, stating:
"...I have decided to announce my retirement effective at the end of this season. At this moment the Board of Trustees should not spend a single minute discussing my status. They have far more important matters to address. I want to make this as easy for them as I possibly can.
However, later that evening, the Penn State Board of Trustees voted to reject Paterno's resignation offer, instead firing him and ordering him to leave immediately. Tom Bradley, Sandusky's successor as defensive coordinator, was named interim head coach for the remainder of the 2011 season. School president Graham Spanier was forced to resign on the same night.
Several hundred Penn State students spontaneously protested the sudden dismissal of Paterno, with some overturning a television news van. The action of the State Board of Trustees was further criticized by Ben Andreozzi, a Harisburg attorney advising some of the alleged victims, who declared that the board had "got it wrong" by hastily dismissing Paterno without consulting the victims of the case. "The school instead elected to do what it felt was in its own best interest at the time. Isn’t that what put the school in this position in the first place?" Andreozzi noted.
However, an anonymous trustee told The Morning Call of Allentown that he and his colleagues felt they had no choice but to fire Paterno due to growing outrage over the scandal. According to the trustee, the board considered allowing Paterno to stay on for the rest of the season and let Bradley act as team spokesman. However, the trustees feared this course would still put all the focus on Paterno and further sully Penn State's image. The board was also angered that Paterno released statements on his own rather than through the university, with some feeling he'd breached his contract by doing so. The trustee said that he and many of his colleagues felt that Paterno "either knew about it (the abuse) or brushed it under the rug, or didn't ask enough questions.
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