Faculty and staff are the leaders and role models on NMU’s campus, providing students with knowledge and advice for careers and futures. Wildcats often take pride in their department or major because of fantastic professors and staff. As we graduate, we leave with degrees in our hands crafted from multiple semesters of interacting with professors, coaches and more on campus.
Our leaders here on campus are supposed to be people we can look toward for guidance in both school and future endeavors. With this in mind, how do we look upon the recent arrests of two professors and one coach?
It is unsettling to see our mentors that we interact with regularly at NMU to be charged with a crime. Faculty and staff need to be held to a higher standard of leadership, inside and outside of the classroom. It is imperative that students and even prospective Wildcats are able to look up to their leaders on campus for guidance in both academic and social issues.
Just as with the actions of students and alumni, it is important to be able to add to the reputation of NMU instead of hurt it. We need to be able to look at all faces of NMU as people we can respect and honor.
An arrest, however, should not warrant immediate disrespect or job loss. There is a distinct difference between being arrested on two counts of fraud and being arrested for protesting and standing up for civil rights: One is honorable and inspiring, one is not.
When faculty or staff members are arrested for reasons that are righteous, it can bring pride to the student body. When they are arrested for reasons that are less than honorable, it immediately represents the school and its students poorly.
While everyone makes mistakes, it is important to remember that these are people that we often ask for important letters of recommendation, or use their names on a résumé as a reference. We do not want a future employer to look up a reference and be met with the wrong kind of arrest headlines.
Their experiences and reputations of the university directly reflect on us and our future decisions.
