Segal Op-Ed on Penn State Utopia Collections

In an opinion column in the British literary journal The Times Higher Education, University of Maine professor of history Howard Segal observes an irony in Penn State University’s Paterno Library housing the world’s foremost assemblage of utopian materials. The library was named for Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno after he and his wife raised and donated money for a large addition in the 1980s. The utopia collection includes cautionary tales, Segal wrote, about failed top-down leadership of otherwise charismatic people who ignored others’ immoral behavior. Paterno is accused of covering up sex abuse complaints about former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, which compounded the university’s current “dystopia,” Segal suggested.

Contact: George Manlove, (207) 581-3756