"The real scandal is not that a Post member entered into a secret agreement, but that such a request was made by the President's Office in the first place."
To the Editor,
Leadership and the Appearance of Impropriety
The secret agreement with the president not to run critical opinion on the day of his column is a clear violation of journalism ethics. To sensitize up-and-coming journalists, we teach ethics and practice moral reasoning with case studies in the school of journalism.
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However, we also need to keep in mind that ethical reflection and moral behavior are not simply skills to be learned like the rules of English grammar. Rather, they need to be practiced and nurtured as a way of life. Cognitive psychologists have long known that, as we mature, we grow not just cognitively but also ethically.
This is why we usually expect adults to be ethically more consistent and sensitized than adolescents. As adults, we also know that young people can easily be impressed or pressured. Thus, we must be aware of the power differential between us, as teachers and leaders, and students, who often don't feel they have the right to say no and who may not always have the right ethical instinct.
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The real scandal is not that a Post member entered into a secret agreement, but that such a request was made by the President's Office in the first place. This request implies that critique is unwelcome, a strange attitude in an academic environment that thrives on and teaches the art of critical thinking. Moreover, it shows a regrettable defect of moral judgment and lack of leadership. The power of the institution should be used to model ethical behavior and not to bargain a secret agreement.
In this context, it is hard not to think of another ethically questionable secret agreement, the so-called “settlement” between landlord Wharton and OU’ s development branch in the athletic department. While it is honorable that Vice President Golding pulled the plug on the purchase of 31 Coventry Lane “in order to avoid even an appearance of impropriety.” it also appears that the impropriety happened at the moment when the “settlement” was negotiated and the lease with Wharton was signed (See the Athens News report from April 15, 2015.) Rumors about the conditions of this settlement had been circulating even before the deal was announced. They were openly mentioned in Richard Vedder’s letter to The Post on March 23.
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Similarly, the secret agreement between the president and a member of The Post does not merely have the appearance of impropriety, it actually IS an ethical breach that damages the reputation of the university and the integrity of the office.
Bernhard Debatin is a professor of journalism and director of honors tutorial studies in journalism
