In response to the horrific sexual assault scandal at Michigan State University, the president of the university, Lou Anna K. Simon, resigned on January 24, 2018.
Simon’s resignation letter begins cautiously enough, expressing regret for the harm done to the victims and satisfaction that Larry Nassar has been brought to justice.
Pretty quickly, however, the tone changes from regret to defiance. In the fifth paragraph, Simon wrote, “As tragedies are politicized, blame is inevitable.”
The first part of the sentence is a classic straw-man argument: some nameless someone has “politicized” the tragedy for some unknown—and by implication, nefarious—purpose.
The second part of the sentence tries to establish a cause and effect relationship: because someone has “politicized” the tragedy, now—and only now—blame can be assigned.
No, no, no. Blame is being assigned because many people were at fault and the system failed. Blame is not the by-product of some misguided politician or activist—blame, here, is the result of a series of horrendous mistakes.
Being able to accept blame comes with responsibility, as responsibility comes with leadership. And leadership is usually a choice.
Rarely is leadership foisted on someone—typically, that person seeks it. Who is forced to be the team’s quarterback? The police chief? The mayor? The captain of a ship? The president of a university?
People seek these positions, because they want the prestige, the power, and/or the salary that comes with them. But with the perks comes the responsibility, even when that does not seem fair. Michigan State is a huge organization. Is it fair to ask the president to know the goings on in every nook and cranny on campus?
In a word, yes. The captain of a ship is responsible for the bilge as well as the bridge, and when something goes wrong, that person is at fault. Period. (Ask the U.S. Navy officers who were in command during recent collisions in the Pacific Ocean.)
For all of the money spent on administration in academia, the least we should receive is an acknowledgment that “the buck stops here.”
Here is a link to Dr. Simon’s resignation letter: https://cabs.msu.edu/news/key-issues/issue-docs/simon-resigns.html