Campus Alert Archive
Penn State

A Flipped News Van and Pepper Spray on Beaver Avenue: 4,000 Students Riot Within Minutes of Joe Paterno's Firing

PAcivil unrestemergency notificationmedium confidence
Confirmed Threat

Within minutes of the Penn State Board of Trustees announcing the firing of head football coach Joe Paterno at 10:09 PM EST on Wednesday, November 9, 2011, an estimated 4,000 students poured into the streets around the Penn State University Park campus and into downtown State College. Light poles were torn down, a WTAJ-TV news van was overturned and destroyed, rocks and bottles were thrown, and police and state troopers in riot gear used pepper spray to disperse crowds in the largest civil unrest in Penn State's history. The riot followed days of mounting tension over the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.

Alerts
3
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
Pennsylvania State University
Public R1 · PA
~48,900 studentsPSUAlert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

3 messages in sequence

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTSMS
Approximate reconstruction313 chars
[PSUAlert was issued informing students that large gatherings had formed in the downtown State College area following the announcement of Joe Paterno's firing. Students were advised to avoid the Beaver Avenue and College Avenue corridors and to remain in residence halls. Police were on scene managing the crowd.]

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

The Board of Trustees announced Paterno's firing in an impromptu press conference at the Penn Stater Hotel at approximately 10:09 PM EST
Crowds began forming in front of the Old Main administration building within minutes and quickly migrated to downtown State College, especially Beaver Avenue and College Avenue
PSUAlert is the university's emergency notification system for the University Park campus and Penn State branch campuses; it sends SMS, email, and voice messages
UPDATESMS+1 h
Approximate reconstruction253 chars
[PSUAlert was updated to advise that police had deployed pepper spray to disperse crowds in the downtown State College area. Students were urged to return to residence halls immediately and to avoid the affected streets. Property damage was widespread.]

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Police and Pennsylvania State Police in riot gear deployed pepper spray at multiple points along Beaver Avenue and College Avenue
The flipped WTAJ-TV news van became the iconic image of the riot and was widely reproduced in national coverage
Every local police department in Centre County contributed officers to the response, along with state troopers and the county sheriff's department
ALL CLEARSMS+3h 30m
Approximate reconstruction278 chars
[PSUAlert announced that crowds had been dispersed and downtown State College streets were reopening. Students were reminded that the affected area still contained debris and that university officials would be reviewing student conduct. Counseling services were made available.]

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Crowds were largely dispersed by 2 AM EST on November 10, 2011, ending the active phase of the unrest
Penn State announced internal student-conduct review processes the following day; few high-profile sanctions were ultimately imposed
Counseling Services and Religious Affairs at Penn State were activated to support students struggling with the events of the evening
Context

Background

The November 9, 2011 Penn State riot is the largest civil unrest in Penn State University history and one of the most widely-covered post-firing collegiate riots in American higher education. The proximate trigger was the Penn State Board of Trustees' announcement at approximately 10:09 PM EST at the Penn Stater Hotel that head football coach Joe Paterno — at age 84, the winningest coach in major-college football history with 61 years at Penn State — and university president Graham Spanier had been fired effective immediately. The firings came amid mounting public outrage over the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal; Sandusky, a former defensive coordinator under Paterno, had been arrested days earlier on multiple counts of child sexual abuse, and Paterno was alleged to have failed to escalate a 2002 report of an assault by Sandusky beyond his immediate superiors. Within minutes of the announcement, crowds began forming outside the Old Main administration building and rapidly grew as they migrated into downtown State College. By 11 PM EST, an estimated 4,000+ students were on Beaver Avenue and College Avenue, chanting 'We want Joe' and 'One more game.' The unrest escalated when light poles were ripped from the ground, a WTAJ-TV news van was overturned and destroyed, and rocks and bottles were thrown at police. Officers from every Centre County police department, the Pennsylvania State Police, and the county sheriff's department responded in riot gear and used pepper spray to disperse the crowd. Penn State's PSUAlert system issued multiple messages over the course of the evening urging students to avoid the downtown area and return to residence halls. The riot lasted several hours and was largely dispersed by 2 AM EST on November 10. The case is significant for this archive because it documents the use of an emergency notification system to manage a politically-charged on-campus civil unrest event — a category distinct from weather, shooter, or fire response — and because the proximate trigger (a personnel decision by university trustees) is unusual in U.S. higher-education emergency response history. Paterno died of lung cancer on January 22, 2012, less than three months after his firing.
Analysis

Key Findings

An estimated 4,000+ students rioted within minutes of the Board of Trustees' 10:09 PM EST announcement, illustrating how rapidly emergency response was required
PSUAlert messaging during a politically-charged civil unrest event is functionally distinct from weather or active-threat alerting and required different content choices
The flipped WTAJ-TV news van became the iconic image of the riot and is one of the most widely-reproduced single images of any U.S. campus emergency
Police from every Centre County department, the Pennsylvania State Police, and the county sheriff's department deployed in riot gear with pepper spray — a substantial use-of-force response
The proximate trigger was a personnel decision by university trustees, not a crime or weather event — an unusual emergency category in U.S. higher-education response history
Outcome
An estimated 4,000+ students rioted across multiple blocks of downtown State College for several hours; the WTAJ-TV news van was flipped and destroyed; light poles, signs, and storefront windows were damaged. Multiple arrests were reported but most were citations for disorderly conduct. Joe Paterno died of lung cancer on January 22, 2012, less than three months after his firing. President Graham Spanier was also fired the same evening; he was later convicted of child endangerment in 2017.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Student Paper
    Recounting Penn State's largest riot after the firing of Joe Paterno - Daily Collegian
    psucollegian.com
  2. News
    Penn State riots after Paterno's ousting - CBS News
    cbsnews.com
  3. News
    Penn State riot: Students react to Joe Paterno firing - Christian Science Monitor
    csmonitor.com
  4. Source
    Penn State child sex abuse scandal - Wikipedia
    en.wikipedia.org
  5. News
    Riots Erupt at Penn State After Legendary Coach Paterno Fired - Fox News
    foxnews.com
  6. Source
    Riots at PSU After Paterno Firing - Security Magazine
    securitymagazine.com
  7. Source
    Experts analyze riot at Penn State - Inside Higher Ed
    insidehighered.com
  8. Official
    PSUAlert - Penn State University Police & Public Safety
    police.psu.edu
Tags
civil-unrestriotpersonnel-decision-triggerpepper-spraypennsylvaniapenn-statepsualertsandusky-scandalpaterno2010spublic-r1
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion