As the Chronicle of Higher Education points out this morning, Penn State University has had an ongoing ethical crisis. It began with the Jerry Sandusky scandal, which disgraced beloved football coach Joe Paterno and probably contributed substantially to his demise shortly after retiring. The scandal culminated with the criminal conviction of another former PSU icon, President Graham Spanier. Now, just as the Keystone State's mega-versity apparently was putting all that behind it, a freshman fraternity pledge died in an irresponsible and reckless hazing incident that has resulted in 18 frat brothers being criminally charged. Phew!
According to the Chronicle, PSU's leadership is meeting the challenge head on, seeking to create a culture of not only obeying the law but also just plain "doing the right thing" because it's right. If that's the case, I applaud them.
As I have repeatedly asserted in this blog, higher education must step up and take a leadership role in the defense of civil rights and civil liberties in the Age of Trump. The President's precipitous firing of FBI Director Comey yesterday is merely the latest proof that our rights and our liberties are under threat from this Administration.
The media won't do the job. While the New York Times and Washington Post are still reliable, most broadcast media have sold out to Infotainment; just watch the Today Show on any given morning to see what I mean. And the unions won't do the job. With Justice Gorsuch reconstituting a conservative majority, SCOTUS is poised to gut public-employee unions by eliminating the "fair share" dues requirement at the earliest opportunity. Private-sector unions are already whittled down to less than 10% of the workforce.
If higher education is to fill the vacuum, then the highest possible ethical standards are a must.
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