Ethical issues that arise on college campuses will be the focus of scholars and educational leaders participating in a national conference hosted by Boston College聽April 5-7. Researchers and veteran higher education administrators will assess the role of university culture and discuss new ways to improve policies and practices that affect students, faculty, staff and leadership, according to Canisius Professor of Theology James F. Keenan, S.J., organizer of the conference, titled 鈥淭oward a Culture of University Ethics.鈥�
Nearly 200 attendees, representing more than 30 colleges and universities, are expected at the conference.
The event is designed to 鈥渒ick off a national conversation on the topic of university ethics,鈥� said Fr. Keenan, author of the book University Ethics: How Colleges Can Build and Benefit from a Culture of Ethics.
On the first day of the conference, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Taylor Branch will present 鈥淜now Thyself: Socrates and Sports at the Corporate University鈥� at聽7 p.m.聽in the Yawkey Center Murray Function Room. Branch, renowned for his landmark trilogy of the Civil Rights era, America in the King Years, also wrote 鈥淭he Shame of College Sports,鈥� an influential cover story for the October 2011 Atlantic. He is a recipient of the National Humanities Medal.
The聽April 6聽keynote address will be given by Ruth Simmons, the former president of Brown University and Smith College. Her talk, 鈥淩ace, Gender and Ethics at the University,鈥� begins at聽9 a.m.聽in the Conte Forum Shea Room.
鈥淲e have an extraordinary group of national leaders, and the structure of the conference is to have the experts talk about the topics,鈥� said Fr. Keenan, who also directs the Jesuit Institute.
The rest of the conference involves panel discussions on various topics. Scheduled participants include:
- Tim Balliett, university ethics officer, Pennsylvania State University;
- Matthew Carnes, S.J., associate professor of government and member of the Working Group on Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation, Georgetown University;
- Scott Jaschik, editor and co-founder of Inside Higher Ed;
- Chronicle of Higher Education Senior Editor Goldie Blumenstyk;
- Jackie Jenkins-Scott, former Wheelock College president;
- Margaret McKenna, former president of Lesley University and Suffolk University, and
- Loyola University Maryland President Brian Linnane, S.J., among others.
Lynch School of Education Augustus Long Professor Janet Helms will participate on a panel addressing diversity.
The conference is co-sponsored by the Jesuit Institute, Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life, Institute for the Liberal Arts, and Lowell Humanities Series.
鈥揢niversity Communications