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Creating Ethical CEOs
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Many people go to college to learn how to make money. But DePauw University in Indiana is trying to teach students how to make honorable decisions. In a country rocked by corporate scandal and unethical business practices, DePauw is putting ethics back in the curriculum. Lindsay Ferrier reports. |
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SCRIPT:
It’s a class called “Playing God.” A DePauw
University ethics class is forcing students
to think about the consequences of their decisions.
Dr. David Smith / DePauw Ethics Professor: “I think critical reflection
in moral issues in the long run is going to make a big difference in the
way people behave.”
Whether it's Martha Stewart’s insider trading or Enron’s financial corruption, what seems to be a lack of ethics at the executive level has caused heartache for thousands. DePauw University is known for turning out CEOs. Now its professors and chaplains, like the Reverend Larry Burton, are teaching students not just how to make a living, but how to live with the decisions they’re making.
The Rev. Larry Burton / United Methodist University Chaplain: “I want them to feel that dilemma, whether it’s a visceral pain or a mental pain or whatever, there’s a sense of ‘no’ there’s something really at odds with me and being asked to do this, whether it's cooking the books or just not quite telling the truth.”
Some of the students say they are already anticipating having their integrity challenged in the workplace.
Sara Keisler / DePauw Journalism Major: “As long as my job is not
on the line, I am
going to try and be as ethical as I can.”
Jermaine Johnson / DePauw History Major: “I don’t feel like colleges spend enough time teaching ethics or teaching students how to live in the real world in general.”
Dr. Smith says what’s often overlooked at universities is the price of making success in the “real world” more important than personal standards of conduct.
Dr. David Smith: “When I think I’ve let go of those standards, I feel like a traitor and I don’t like that. I don’t like the kind of person I’ve become.”
TAG:
Once a huge part of the college curriculum, ethics courses began to disappear in universities immediately following World War II. It's only recently that universities like DePauw are reinstating ethics programs.