(Dear readers: I appreciate your patience and understanding more than you know. As you have come to realize, a passion of mine is victim advocacy. I have and will continue to use this forum to share information with you and hope that you will join me in that passion – seeking better ways to protect our children and our fellow citizens from degrading, demeaning, and dangerous harms caused by others.)
Does resignation equal absolution?
No, no, a thousand times no!
I read with interest late last night that MSU’s President Simon has resigned her position and I humbly offer this observation. I am very glad that she saw the writing on the wall and took that step, although from her published written statement, it doesn’t appear that she gets it.
In my assessment, the following citation from President Simon’s statement reflects the crux of the problem with MSU and especially President Simon, and all those school officials who failed to protect the victims. In her published statement, President Simon (2018) wrote, “Throughout my career, I have worked very hard to put Team MSU first. I have tried to not make it about me.” What an indictment of the harmful philosophy that is in place at MSU! When the first complaint was made to school officials in the mid-1990s, the response by those mandated reporters made it painfully obvious that it was all about the institution, MSU. It was never about doing the right thing. There was no ethical leadership being practiced by those most responsible for protecting the young adults and children being harmed by the monster in their midst.
As leaders in our organizations and communities we have a perfect example here of what not to do when allegations of sexual assault, harassment, or abuse are made. We know the importance of not only educating ourselves about the principles of ethical leadership, but actually practicing those principles. Our children, our employees, colleagues, and others are depending upon us to do the right thing. We can be a role model within our communities and our professions by working to secure the futures of our young people, families, colleagues, and employees by keeping them safe from the predators and the indifferent within our society.