The Freeh report - the findings of an investigation conducted by former FBI director Louis Freeh into Penn State University's handling of reports of child sex abuse being committed by former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky - has had almost 24 hours to sink into the collective consciousness of Happy Valley and the rest of the nation.
Based on the report's findings, no doubt there are many people who are jusitfiably angry, sad and dumbfounded by what it says, just as they were when the scandal first broke last fall.
But make no mistake. This was absolutely necessary.
As the report points out, there is plenty of blame to be shared by plenty of people - mostly with Sandusky himself, but also the Board of Trustees, former president Graham Spanier, athletic director Tim Curley, vice president Gary Schultz and, yes, even the late football coach Joe Paterno.
The report released Thursday says "the most saddening finding by the Special Investigative Counsel is the total and consistent disregard by the most senior leaders at Penn State for the safety and welfare of Sandusky's child victims."
This is, indeed, saddening. It is amazing to think of how a university held in such high regard by so many before this scandal broke could have allowed something so heinous to take place on its campus over such a lengthy period of time.
Our hope is that the findings of the report will compel the university to take a cold, hard look at itself and the circumstances that allowed this tragedy to unfold within its very walls and take definitive action to prevent it or anything like it from happening again.
It is also our hope that changes will occur at Penn State and that this unspeakable tragedy will serve as a cautionary tale to those who think such things could never happen to them.
The university owes the victims at least that much.
