In an attempt to get the focus back on the victims of alleged child sexual abuse, Penn State students are planning a candlelight vigil Friday night before the Nittany Lions play their last home game of the season tomorrow.
The idea for a vigil came from two senior students who thought that people were spending too much time talking about the football program, according to Kevin Cirilli, a spokesman for the fraternities at Penn State.
The vigil is a show of solidarity from Penn State students to the victims of alleged assault. Organizers said that they want to put the focus back on the victims, and not on the school's football team or Penn State as an institution.
Still, Cirilli said, he has been thinking about the reputation of the university.
"Penn State up here, it's like a way of life. And that's just been, like, ripped from Happy Valley. I mean, like, there, it's just, the mood up here is just absolutely horrible, it's depressing, it's sad," said Cirilli.
The vigil comes after two days of raucous behavior from students reacting to the child sex abuse scandal and the firing of Nittany Lions head coach Joe Paterno. At the last home game on Saturday, in lieu of the traditional "white-out," when students wear white, a "blue-out" is planned to show solidarity for child abuse victims.
The candlelight vigil will be held on the Old Main lawn on Friday evening.
