When former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky was first arrested and accused of child abuse in November of 2011, the board of trustees of Penn State University appointed an independent investigator to examine the evidence for any wrongdoing by officials at the University, including coach Joe Paterno, University president Graham Spanier, and athletic director Tim Curley. The investigator was Louis J. Freeh, a former federal judge and director of the F.B.I. Freeh and his team of investigators conducted over 400 interviews and had access to the emails and documents of the officials in question. The investigation lasted seven months.

On July 12, 2012, a month after former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky was convicted of 45 counts of child abuse, Mr. Freeh held a press conference to announce his findings in a 250-page report. According to the New York Times, Freeh reported that

The most senior officials at Penn State had shown a "total and consistent disregard" for the welfare of children, had worked together to actively conceal Mr. Sandusky's assaults, and had done so for one central reason: fear of bad publicity. That publicity, Mr. Freeh said Thursday, would have hurt the nationally ranked football program, Mr. Paterno's reputation as a coach of high principles, the Penn State "brand" and the university's ability to raise money as one of the most respected public institutions in the country.

From this ongoing, tragic story, there are clearly important lessons to be learned by Penn State University and other institutions, but there are also crucial lessons for each of us, and the lessons go far beyond child abuse. The broader lesson is about how we respond to the truth of any kind when we know it will hurt us, when we know the truth will be "bad publicity" on a personal scale.

If we have stolen, will we face the truth or attempt to cover it up? If we have broken the rules of our employer, will we face the truth or attempt to cover it up? If we have broken the law, will we face the truth or attempt to cover it up? If we have sinned against God, will we face the truth or attempt to cover it up by rationalizations and self-deception?

The impulse to cover up the truth is no different in us than it is in those who have been charged with wrongdoing at Penn State. Never forget that the first and greatest impulse of any wrongdoer is to seek to justify himself, to discredit both the truth and those who speak it, and to believe a lie.