Barron Should Take Advice From Erickson
A case that is very apparent in my daily life at Penn State is the recent Greek
life ban/scandal/issue. After the tragic death of Timothy Piazza at a fraternity
house, President Barron had first declared new regulations on Greek life, but has
now overall threatened the existence of it after some rules were ignored. He is
clearly trying to save the face of Penn State right now, but I don’t believe he is doing
it correctly.
Barron, as the president of University such as this, has a lot of pressure on
him as it is. Keep in mind, the Sandusky scandal years ago was a complete disaster
and took years to get PSU’s reputation back. Now, we have another emergency on
campus. It’s Barron’s job to somehow save our face and keep our reputation in tact
to the community. In a seemingly panic, he took it upon himself, without the help of
any members of Greek life, to impose new rules and ultimately threaten us. He’s
threatening one of the biggest communities of Penn State: something that draws
applicants.
Barron should take a look at what Rodney Erickson did during the Sandusky
scandal. In an article from the Centre Daily Times staff in 2012 that I found on the
database, Erickson explains that he did what was necessary to save the football
program and the school. “The penalties now in place include a four-year ban on
postseason play, a loss of scholarships, the vacating of all wins since 1998 and a $60
million fine.” Erickson “agreed to the announced sanctions rather than face a
shutdown of the football program.” He worked with his coworkers and the team so
“do what we thought was necessary to save the program.” He even explained “some
members of the board were consulted before he signed the deal.” This is the right
thing to do. A crisis this large should have more than one person behind the
thinking of how to fix it.
On the other hand today, Barron did not consult any Interfratnerity Council
or Panhellenic member on these decisions. There was no working with anyone on
how to prevent accidents like this from happening again, how to implement any risk
management workshops or any educational sessions at all. We all wonder who
decided on these new rules or if Barron should be taken seriously when he says the
existence of Greek life may end. The issues that correlated to Piazza’s death have
been present for decades: underage drinking, sexual misconduct, etc.. But, Barron
waits until now to do something. In another article from the database from Centre
Daily Times by Jeremiah Steves, he says to Barron, “You can play the fool no longer
and action you had to take. So let us praise you that your hand was forced and you
deeds were not for the welfare of your student, but for self-preservation.” Saving
face, not students. If the students mattered, they would’ve been considered in the
decision.
This is important because Greek life is a huge tradition of Penn State. Like
our athletics, Greek life draws in thousands of applicants every year. If our
administration keeps making brash and quick decisions on issues that affect our
entire university, it’s students, and our future students, what will be left? The
higher-ups think that the students are angry and don’t want our right to party every
weekend to be taken away. But, it’s much more than that. Our voices are being
hushed and not taken into consideration.
References:
Stevens, J. (2017, April 4). Action against Greek life too
late. Retrieved April 11, 2017, from
http://infoweb.newsbank.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu
/resources/doc/nb/news/1638F0C2828DF610?p=AWNB
C. (2012, September 8). Walt Moody: Vindication bell
ringing loud for Nittany Lions. Retrieved April 11, 2017,
from
http://infoweb.newsbank.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu
/resources/doc/nb/news/1503B3EBC716DD78?p=AWNB