Ohio State University T-shirt creates uproar on social media

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Ohio State University officially kicks off its 2012 football season this weekend, however, the school is making current headlines for something other than its athletics.

A photo of an OSU T-shirt referencing the Jerry Sandusky sex-abuse scandal surfaced this week on the social media circuit. The red T-shirt reads in white text, “I’d rather shower at Penn State than cheer for the Wolverines.”

According to USAToday, Gayle Saunders, the university’s assistant vice president of media relations wrote in an e-mail that school officials are aware of the T-shirt design that has been making its way around the Internet.

“This is not a university-sanctioned T-shirt and we have no knowledge of where it originated,” wrote Saunders. “It is unacceptable and appalling that someone would make light of a tragedy in this manner.

The T-shirt’s reference to showering at Penn State applies to an incident more than 10  years ago involving Sandusky, Penn State’s former assistant coach and former graduate assistant coach Mike McQueary, who came forward and testified he witnessed Sandusky rape a young boy in the showers of the university’s football building.

On Thursday, popular sportscaster Bonnie Bernstein tweeted, “Some OSU fan REALLY made a 'I’d rather shower at PSU than root for Mich' t-shirt? There had to be drugs.”

Carrie Hampton of @winghead19 also tweeted Thursday, “This new #OSU t-shirt is disgusting – I get it, you hate #UofM – but, learn where the line of decency is. Seriously."

USAToday reports the image of the Buckeye T-shirt first appeared on the website Jezebel.

The Buckeyes first football game of the season kicks off at noon Sat., Sept. 1 in Columbus against Miami University.