Penn State Alum: Why Students Rioted

The Penn State student body has been the target of national outrage after students angrily protested the firing of disgraced college football coach Joe Paterno. But Grantland staff writer and Penn State alum Michael Weinreb says rioting is an inexplicable part of the school’s culture. “Maybe it’s the omnipresence of alcohol, and maybe it’s a party culture that’s been honed over the course of several decades, and maybe just the sense that we’re young and invulnerable.” That’s no excuse, of course: Weinreb writes that it’s time to “reexamine every aspect of the culture we’ve fostered.”