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Friday, August 4, 2017

Off Target

Yesterday, we noted an LA Times editorial that called for an investigation of exactly who did what in the UC-Irvine admissions fiasco.

Today, two items appeared that are totally off target. One is a NY Times op ed that sings the praises of Irvine for eventually apologizing and undoing (some of) the admissions denials:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/03/opinion/university-of-california-irvine.html

"...Even adults in positions of authority — decent, well-meaning adults — make mistakes. They’re an unavoidable part of life. And it can be pretty miserable to admit you made a big one. But admitting it, and trying to fix it, is still a lot better than the alternative."

The other is an item in Inside Higher Ed that essentially argues that it is psychologically tough to admit error, but at least Irvine did so:
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/08/04/university-presidents-cant-always-be-quick-apologize-recent-cases-show

All of this is fine as far as it goes. Sure, it's better to admit error, apologize, and correct than not. But someone - maybe more than one - at Irvine needs to be held responsible for a major error of judgment. There is no sign from Irvine that anything like that is happening.

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