Inside Higher Ed Post on “When in Doubt, Investigate”

Inside Higher Ed published on July 3, 2012, an interesting piece, “When in Doubt, Investigate”, by Scott Coffina, an attorney with Drinker Biddle & Reath. The article explores the recent scandals affecting colleges and universities–from athletics violations to band hazing–and the lessons learned from how university leaders addressed each one. Coffina notes the two most important tenants in dealing with scandals:

There are two main lessons to be learned from this litany of scandals. First, no one is bigger than the institution itself. If Joe Paterno can be brought down, anyone can be. Second, deal with your problems; don’t bury them. The common thread among these scandals is that none of them had to happen, or at least blow up as they ultimately did. Coaches and administrators cannot prevent every problem, but they usually can contain them, and each of these could have been nipped in the bud in they had been investigated and addressed properly at the outset.

To read the complete article, please click here.