Up Front | President's Column

March 2003: Vol. 82, No. 2

Rising to the challenge of ethics education

nron. Global Crossing. Tyco. WorldCom. Adelphia.

Over the past 18 months, once-proud corporate names have become indelibly associated with scandals of incomprehensible scale. America's high-profile business and corporate enterprise has seemed at times on the verge of complete collapse. I was a young college and graduate student in the Watergate era and I recall vividly the loss of confidence in our government that those events produced. I sense that same loss of confidence in the corporate community today.

Michael F. Adams

As one of the premier public universities in America, we have a responsibility to ensure that not only are our students educated in the subject areas of their choosing, but also equipped with an ethical foundation that prepares them to be a positive influence. We have long touted the University of Georgia as a place which prepares leaders; we must now be certain that we are preparing leaders with an equal capacity for success and decorum.

In my deliberations about this I've come to the conclusion that it is not enough for a leading university to curse the darkness. Simply to point out the errors of other's ways without committing to a course of action that prevents such conduct in the future is not only shortsighted, it violates our mission to educate and to serve. I want to see a greater focus here, both programmatically and personally, on how we comport ourselves ethically. I want this institution to provide ethical leadership.

In saying that, I know we are set up for second-guessing and I make no claim that this university is a paragon of virtue. But as Michelangelo said, "The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it."

When I delivered the State of the University speech in January, I urged our students to recognize the precious opportunity they had been given when they enrolled at the University of Georgia. The demand for admission to UGA is so high that for each student who enrolls, there are three who would readily trade places with him or her. But I also challenged them to recognize their roles as representatives of this university and to seek a higher standard of conduct. Such a code of conduct is self-enforcing; as individuals, we conduct ourselves according to its standards, and as a group, we do not tolerate violations. Being one of America's best public universities means being held to a higher standard, and we should welcome that responsibility.

During the past year, our students have had the opportunity to demonstrate an understanding of and commitment to the kind of community ideals I am discussing. In particular, the success of the UGA football team has not resulted in the kind of violent and despicable display we have seen at other campuses.

I am extremely proud of the way our students have conducted themselves while celebrating the Bulldogs' victories. In many ways, Sanford Stadium functions as our largest classroom for instruction in personal behavior.

How we conduct ourselves there as students, student-athletes, coaches and fans does matter. The attention focused on college football provides an opportunity for us to tell the larger story of the University of Georgia, and the story our students have told this season has been of a student body which supports its teams and celebrates victory appropriately.

A UGA code of conduct will guide us on and off campus, as students and as alumni, as professionals and as citizens. It will influence our care for this campus, one of this country's most beautiful. It will define our role as host to any visitors here, whether they be attending an athletic event in support of one of our rivals or visiting campus with a potential student. It will serve to bind all of us to a common standard which we strive to achieve.

Preparing our students not only to be successful in their lives once they leave this campus but also to be the kind of people who make a difference in their communities, who recognize and adhere to a higher standard of personal conduct and who value and demonstrate integrity is a solemn obligation. Nothing gives me greater hope for the future than the quality of our student body as a whole and the individual students with whom I am privileged to spend time.

We must be sure that they leave this campus not only with the knowledge and preparation to succeed, but also with a greater and deeper appreciation for the ethical dimension of life.