The first of what could be many actions by corporations and partner institutions to distance themselves from the legacy of Joe Paterno has occurred, as CNBC's Darren Rovel reports that Nike will remove Paterno's name from its childcare center:
BREAKING: Nike is taking Joe Paterno’s name off its childcare center on the Nike campus.
— darren rovell (@darrenrovell) July 12, 2012
Nike founder and chairman Phil Knight spoke at Paterno's funeral in support of the coach and his family, which at the time was a bold public act of support. On Thursday Nike CEO Mike Parker issued a statement regarding the removal of the Paterno name:
"I have been deeply saddened by the news coming out of this investigation at Penn State. It is a terrible tragedy that children were unprotected from such abhorrent crimes. With the findings released today, I have decided to change the name of our child care center at our World Headquarters. My thoughts are with the victims and the Penn State community."
The Joe Paterno Child Development Center was a day care facilities on the campus Nike's world headquarters in Oregon. When the scandal involving Jerry Sandusky originally broke, Nike stated publicly that it would not change the name of the center.
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