Penn State’s new Joe Paterno exhibit inside Beaver Stadium has brought the old conversation back into focus, but one part of the story is staying exactly where it has been for years: the 900-pound bronze statue of Paterno.
The athletic department recently made clear that the statue, which was removed from outside Beaver Stadium in July 2012 and has not been publicly seen since, is still in storage and not headed back to campus. A spokesperson told the Centre Daily Times, “The statue remains in storage and there are no plans to reinstall it on campus,” after questions surfaced about whether the new museum space might include it.
That question came up because Penn State recently unveiled the “Paterno Family Football Experience Room” in the stadium’s All-Sports Museum. The renovated space includes Paterno’s original office desk and workspace, and the university’s announcement prompted curiosity about whether the statue could be part of the display or placed somewhere else on campus.
The athletic department did not answer follow-up questions about why the decision was made or where the statue is being kept. Jay Paterno, Joe Paterno’s son and a member of the university’s board of trustees, also did not respond to several CDT messages about the statue.
The museum room was announced earlier this month in a surprise move, with the university saying the space was named after the Paterno family in part because of an anonymous donor who made a significant but undisclosed contribution.
The exhibit is not limited to Joe Paterno’s personal items. It also includes interactive displays on football history, trophies and honors, team captains, Hall of Famers, fan traditions, current coach Matt Campbell, and more.
The new room arrived more than six years after Penn State and the Paterno family publicly settled their “outstanding issues” in the aftermath of the Jerry Sandusky scandal. The university did not exonerate Paterno, who was fired by the board of trustees, but said it did not agree with many of the views reflected in reports and statements including the Freeh Report, which suggested Paterno tried to hide the allegations against Sandusky.
Sandusky, a former defensive coordinator at Penn State, was convicted in 2012 of 45 counts of child sexual abuse involving multiple young boys. He was arrested in November 2011, and Paterno was fired days later.
Paterno died in January 2012. Criminal charges were never filed against him.
Since then, Penn State’s relationship with the Paterno family has remained complicated. The school moved quickly to separate itself in some ways, including renaming the campus shop Joegie’s and removing the statue from outside the stadium. But it stopped short of wiping away every trace, keeping the Pattee and Paterno Library name in place.
Over time, the university and athletic department have seemed more willing to acknowledge Paterno again. He was formally honored in 2016 to mark the 50th anniversary of his first game, and Sue Paterno was seen in the university president’s gameday suite in 2022.
Even so, the statue’s location has never been made public. It has not been seen in 14 years, and Penn State’s latest response suggests that is unlikely to change any time soon.
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