Looking back more than a year after tragedy befell our great University, we have seen many attempts to restore Penn State’s name after our University’s darkest hour.
   
One proposed action, in the spirit of the University’s convalescence, was to rename The Paterno Liberal Arts Undergraduate Fellows Program in the wake of the Freeh Report’s allegations against Joseph Vincent Paterno. As part of the discussions surrounding the program’s now-controversial name, the Paterno Fellows Student Advisory Board was consulted for a student view on the issue. While on the surface level this issue was black-and-white–rename the program and be consistent with such efforts as the NCAA’s stripping of Paterno’s record 409 wins, or keep the name just as the University Libraries did–the Student Advisory Board perceived many larger questions.
   
Ultimately, the students advised the administration of the College of the Liberal Arts to defer judgment on the program’s name, citing their belief in due process and the need for more information regarding Paterno’s role in the case against Gerald Sandusky.
   
The Liberal Arts Undergraduate Council, on behalf of the students of the College of the Liberal Arts, would like to commend the Student Advisory Board for their embodiment of many liberal arts virtues that make the students of the College great: holistic thinking, long-range planning, and judiciousness all played a huge role in the Student Advisory Board’s decision.
   
Although this statement is emerging well after-the-fact, given that the legal process has yet to take its full course, we perceive that the future holds further judgments of the Paterno Fellows Program’s name. It is for this reason that we would like to commend the Student Advisory Board for its ability to convey the strength of the College of the Liberal Arts in these difficult times and teach us all a powerful lesson about critical thinking. WE ARE in good hands.

Sincerely,
The Liberal Arts Undergraduate Council