Tag Archives: Penn State

July 15, 2012, 9:50 pm

Leadership, the University Brand, Abuse, and Our Duty

What does it take to be a leader? I think it takes bravery, strength, discretion, integrity, intelligence, the ability to bring people together around a common cause, and charisma. What does it take to be a leader in American higher education? It takes all of these qualities plus the ability to figure out when the bottom line must be sacrificed for the overall education and good of society and its individual members.

We’ve read many stories as of late about the sexual abuse at Penn State and the hazing at Florida A&M University (FAMU). In both cases, the institution’s leadership—all the way up to the president—chose to put the “brand” of the institution in front of the well being of young people. In Penn State’s case, rather than bring shame to the revered football program (a darling of the alumni and students), coaches and administrators at all levels covered up the…

July 13, 2012, 5:24 pm

A Culture of Evasion

By Peter Wood

The dreadful scandal at Penn State reached another level on July 12, with the 250-page report of former FBI director Louis Freeh to the university’s board of trustees, culminating a seven-month independent investigation. The report makes clear the complicity of senior officials at the university in covering up convicted child molester and former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky’s sexual assaults on children. The officials include head football coach, the late Joe Paterno, university president Graham Spanier, athletic director Tim Curley, university vice president Gary Schultz, and university police chief Thomas Harmon, all of whom knew enough of the facts to act but who chose instead to turn a blind eye to Sandusky’s concurrent career as a child molester.

The officials chose to pursue a cover up, according to Freeh, because of their fear of bad publicity.

That probably…

November 11, 2011, 3:13 pm

Speak Up! We’re Talking About Our Children

By Marybeth Gasman

In the coming days and months, we will likely find out more and more about the sexual-abuse scandal at the Pennsylvania State University. Years of covering up horrible acts are unraveling in front of our eyes. Presidents and coaches are being fired for their lack of judgment, lack of care, and in some cases horrific crimes. Victims are speaking out.

What does this incident teach us? It teaches us that we must speak up when we see wrongs being committed. Colleges and universities are the places of ideas, of hope, and where our youth learn to think critically and make good and well-thought-out choices. What kind of message are we sending to young people when we ignore the sexual abuse of children to save the job of a friend, the reputation of a sports team, or a university? How can we stand by as innocent children are raped and do nothing?

According to the U.S. Department of…

December 23, 2010, 9:37 pm

Is Academic Freedom a License to Indoctrinate?

By Peter Wood

I woke up this morning in a dream in which I was touring a large university with a guide. In good dream-logic, we were starting from the roof of a main building and descending floor by floor. On the top floor, I was impressed to see students in practice rooms learning to play drums, flailing away in various arrhythmic spasms. Good, I thought. They are getting a feel for the instrument. Then we descended to the next floor, and I was surprised to find more practice rooms with more students beating out senseless stuff on drums, no teacher in sight, and their thumps combining to a sound like an all-out war among sous-chefs. Then we descended another floor—more aimless drummers. And another, and another, and another. It was drummers idiotically drumming all the way down. The last thing I remember is asking my guide what else the university taught. He answered, of course, “We believe each…