When it first broke that Jerry Sandusky, former assistant football coach at Penn State, was accused of having molested young boys who participated in his summer sports program, the nation was shocked. Over the months that followed, more officials have been implicated in covering up the abuse and the public image of the university has taken a nose dive.Several Penn State administrators have been implicated in Sandusky’s abuse for failing to report incidents when they were told of them and for covering up his acts, including former president Graham Spanier. Sanctions have been heaped on the PSU football team, and now the school’s regional accreditation is under threat. If Penn State is unable to come up with a plan that pleases the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, they may lose grants, student loan eligibility and other financial assistance programs, as well as standing in the academic world.The reaction to this case has been almost as disgusting as the crime itself. What Sandusky did is horrible and unthinkable, and the administration’s reaction to it is nothing short of negligent; however, the way the public has demonized an entire school with a noble history is horrifying. It is outrageous that a case which occurred in a non-academic program could jeopardize Penn State’s accreditation.In all the hysteria and hype, it is forgotten that the incidents that occurred did not happen in the regular academic program, nor did they involve the main Penn State football team. It’s bad enough that the football team has been heaped with sanctions that may keep them from competing with the Big Ten. To remove accreditation from the entire college for an incident that happened outside of the main program and had nothing to do with their academic standards is unthinkable.There are students at Penn State who will be graduating this year, students who have been working on their degrees, paid thousands of dollars to attend college and spent hundreds of hours slaving over papers and projects. The removal of accreditation from PSU would harm them and could keep these students from being able to finish their programs or prevent them from getting a good job after graduation.If there was a scandal with a Point Park sports team, would we close the dance program? Would we shut down the School of Communications over something the baseball team did, or dismantle the Arts and Sciences program? I would hope not. Sports are not the reason a university exists and should not affect the education that the average student receives.Outsiders to this case need to stand back and stop trying to further trample Penn State while those affiliated with the school are grieving. My father has two degrees from Penn State and is an avid fan of their football team. All summer I saw the grim look on his face whenever discussion of the Sandusky case and sanctions came up. The way this case is being handled isn’t only hurting the perpetrators, but is causing distress for students and alumni as well.Sandusky’s victims need to be given the help that they didn’t receive from former Penn State administrators and shown compassion.  Penn State students, alumni and fans should not be punished for something they had no knowledge of or control over. Removing the accreditation from a perfectly good academic program for something that occurred outside of the real reason the university exists won’t stop children from being abused; it won’t rewind time and change what Sandusky did and it won’t bring healing to those who have been hurt. It will, however, cost thousands of dollars and good jobs to deserving students who did nothing wrong.