During the past few weeks, college football fans—and the nation at large—have witnessed a scandal engulf an esteemed university (Penn State) and its legendary football coach (Joe Paterno). For private school leaders, the question is: What can we learn from the scandal so that our schools avoid such a fate?
(For those not familiar with the specifics of the scandal, here is a summary from the New York Times.
Short-Term and Long-Term Damages?. While it may take many months for the allegations against the school and its senior administrators to be proved or disproved, the immediate results appear clear:
- a “living legend” – who had been poised to ride off into the sunset after 45 years of excellence and honor—was fired amidst scandal and ignominy
- a proud university and alumni base finds its reputation now linked with the words “sex scandal”
School Lessons. While everyone involved is innocent until proven guilty, of course, Paterno was quoted shortly before his firing as saying, “I wish I had done more.” From a “doing more” perspective, the questions for private schools to consider are:
- How does something like this happen?
- How can we protect ourselves against a situation like this occurring at our school?
While we can only surmise some of the conditions that may have allowed this particular situation to occur, lessons from past experience indicate several factors place institutions at risk:
- “Larger than life” dilemma. When one person—no matter how esteemed—becomes bigger and more powerful than the organization itself, there is grave danger of a sense of invulnerability and being “above the law” seeping in.
- “Protecting success … not students.” When success becomes so long-sustained that vested interests seek to protect the success rather than promoting the values that brought the success in the first place, there is grave danger that the self-interest of the powerful trumps protecting the vulnerable and voiceless.
- “Don’t question power.” When no one feels empowered to challenge decisions with ethical implications, there is grave danger of “looking the other way” becoming the tacitly accepted “status quo.”
Schools can take several measures to protect against these type of events:
- Sexual abuse identification and prevention training for all faculty, staff, and administrators (education and consistent communication is the key)
- Whistleblower policy covering all members of the school community – providing a vehicle for the “voiceless” to bring forward critical ethical concerns
- Above all else, an open culture that is comfortable with respectfully questioning authority figures on matters of significance.
All schools are urged to review their risk management policies and practices (the broad heading under which all of the above may be classified) … for the protection and benefit of all concerned.
