Chronological notes:
1997: Penn State broke ground on the $34 million Paterno Library, after Paterno spearheaded fundraising and personally donated $225,000 to the project.
May 13, 1998: Victim 6--Curley says “Coach wants to know” in email to Schultz.
1998: Paterno and his family donated $3.5 million to Penn State for faculty positions, scholarships and two building projects.
[If these figures are correct, escalating giving from $225K to $3.5MM is a major change.]
1998: Paterno won his 300th game as Penn State's coach
From http://espn.go.com/college-football...tate-nittany-lions-coach-joe-paterno-timeline
Note- If I remember rightly, in the ESPN timeline the Paterno family philanthropy is listed twice- in 1997-8 and again in "2009: Paterno and his wife announced a $1 million pledge to the Mount Nittany Medical Center."
It is not a consistent, annual thing, unless the gifts were pledges over a period of time.
Edited to add:
OK, I'll venture it- my instinct is that these were conscience gifts because he knew about Sandusky in 1998 and something raised the issue again by 2009.
July 1, 1999: Athletic director Tim Curley issues a press release announcing Sandusky's decision to retire following the 1999 season. …His achievement as a human being, Curley says, "is splendidly demonstrated by the thousands of youngsters he touches annually through The Second Mile."
You figure Curley would say something like that if Paterno didn't want it said?