INTEGRITY IS WHAT YOU DO WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING
I was happy to see Michael Josephson's commentary today, where he reconsidered his previous support of Penn State's Joe Paterno. Yes, Paterno is a legend, and built a reputation of honesty, integrity, and character by molding young football players into men for decades. However, when no one was looking, Paterno failed the ultimate test. When faced with the choice of doing the right thing or taking a "half-measure" that he knew posed the lowest risk to himself and his beloved football program, he chose the most convenient (and despicable) path. Paterno had to know that reporting a child molestation in the Penn State locker room to the Athletic Director would not result in full transparency, an investigation, police involvement, or justice for the molester. Rather, Paterno knew that the matter would be handled "quietly", if at all, protecting the reputation of the team (and the coaches). The NCAA has been struggling with the weak, often non-existent ethical cultures of college athletic departments for years. Violation after violation has revealed that the nation's colleges and universities don't want to "kill the golden calf" , the money machine generated by their football programs. Colleges and their athletic departments have frequently turned a blind eye to even the most egregious NCAA recruiting violations until a fed-up whistleblower goes to the press.
What this entire Penn State mess illustrates is that ignoring the ethical culture of an organization has consequences for everyone involved. Colleges and universities need to establish strong ethics and compliance programs, reporting directly to the Board of Trustees that oversee every aspect of university life. Yes, even the Athletic Department. If there had been an anonymous hotline; a meaningful, and enforced code of conduct that required reporting of violations; regular ethics training sessions as a reminder of the obligations of every employee, faculty member, and coach; and a tone at the top of each department, from the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, to the University President, to the Director of Athletics, perhaps the despicable behavior of this one man that destroyed the lives of these children could have been stopped sooner.
Paterno should have confronted his former Assistant coach, stopped this crime, and called the police. That's what a person of character would have done. Integrity is what you do and how you act when no one is watching. Paterno failed the test. Decades of football championships and college kids overturning cars in defense of their "Joe-Pa" won't change this basic fact. This is Paterno's new legacy. Perhaps it will serve as a teaching moment for colleges and universities throughout the country.
COMMENTARY: Sorry, Joe, You Have to Go
