Why Is Accountability Inconsistently Enforced?

Colleges and universities often call their campuses communities and their environments family-like. While these metaphors aim to evoke healthy, supportive cultures, reality rarely matches the ideal. Sometimes the campus community feels more like Twin Peaks or The Handmaid’s Tale and the family dynamics resemble Schitt’s Creek or Breaking Bad. The politics? Think Game of Thrones. Like these television shows, campus life spans behaviors from admirable to questionable—even criminal.

Stories of performance and behavioral issues abound in higher education. These are not whispered secrets but are frequently recounted at meetings and events, at lunch in the dining hall and parties. Long-timers often regale newcomers with tales so confounding as to evoke uproarious laughter, wide-eyed awe, righteous indignation and large-scale skepticism. Reactions often include exclamations of “No fucking way. Did they get fired?” The answers may surprise you.

To illustrate, below is a list of scenarios (which have been changed for storytelling purposes and to protect the innocent and guilty). Consider: From the list, how many do you think ended with someone being fired?

Punching a student.
Slapping the spouse of an employee across the face at the annual holiday party in the alumni house.
Locking members of the biology department in the conference room during a faculty meeting (before there were cellphones and laptops, not that it would make that big of a difference, I guess).
Skinny-dipping with students.
Pulling a knife on someone’s dog during a department picnic.

Drinking vodka out of a Sprite can during class, passing out and waking up to find class is over and noticing the students drew a target on your bald head with a Sharpie.
Running into a burning academic building to retrieve a porn stash hidden in the ceiling tiles of an office.
Forgetting to add utility costs to the university’s annual budget.
Drinking alcohol and smoking reefer with students at a conference. Then taking the students to a strip club and flashing the doorman so underage students could be admitted to said strip club.

Being caught sleeping with a student during a dormitory fire drill at 3 a.m.
Using philanthropic funds to bring friends to a Joan Rivers Collection jewelry auction at another institution.
Reporting misuse of university funds.
Reporting board members for harassment, discrimination, assault and retaliation.
Saying, “Yes, I witnessed the behavior. I thought she should take it” to a DHR investigator regarding a victim’s assault by board members.
Faking an emergency call to campus police to test their response time.
Trying to run over a colleague in the staff parking lot with a snowplow.

Fixing friends’ cars at the B&G auto shop and pocketing the cash.
Being convicted for shoplifting three times and not being able to teach due to jail time.
Threatening a senior administrator with physical harm.
Having LOUD sex in an office on a desk.
Putting a pencil in the gluteal cleft of a student who is squatting down to unearth a skeleton during an archaeology dig.
Calling an employee the R slur because their performance declined due to an accident that caused brain damage and depression.
Sleeping at an office desk daily, waking only to browse dating sites.
With the promise of a university purchase, having a luxury RV delivered to the office for a test drive without authority or authorization.
Taking money from the university museum’s donation box for wine change.
Having nicknames for campus employee couples such as “The Duke and Duchess,” “Brigadier and Commander-in-Wife,” or “Punch and Cookies.”
Having an affair with a subordinate. (We see you, the OSU.)
Faking co-authorship of a peer-reviewed journal and lying to the dean, provost, president, board of trustees and attorney general representative about it.

Of the 28 listed here, 10 ended with someone being fired. If your guesses were off, that’s not surprising; answers for the same scenarios can vary dramatically by institution.

So, what actually determines whether an employee gets fired? For initiates and those with a moral compass, the reasons may be elusive, unjust, illogical, rage-inducing or ridiculous. Nevertheless, it’s a complicated matter. To shed some light, here are 10 possible reasons why accountability is inconsistently enforced. Don’t get mad at me; as the column title suggests, I’m just explaining it to you.

Avoidant leaders: Tough decisions aren’t made based upon principles; they are based on avoiding conflict.
Narcissistic, Machiavellian and sociopathic leaders: It’s all about them. If this type of leader feels threatened in any way or may be held liable for something, they will intentionally harm people to protect themselves and not feel guilty about it.
Scaredy-cat reaction (a.k.a. “choosing your battles”): No action taken because of fear of a lawsuit, retaliation or damage to institutional or personal reputations. What if a donor or board member gets mad?!
“(Not) one of us” syndrome: Campuses are notoriously tribal in how people are treated. When people are a part of the tribe, excuses for poor performance and behavior can sound like “that’s how we’ve always done it” and “that’s who he is.” People close ranks quickly if someone in the group is accused. Conversely, people can defame, bully, make false accusations against and mob those who are perceived as outsiders who don’t value and understand “the culture,” resulting in the “rejection of the transplanted organ.” Common refrains against outsiders: “You thought you left the South.” “She’s not from here. She doesn’t know how to do.” (Cue: frown, nudge and a knowing nod.) Code phrase used by administration following departures: “They weren’t a good fit.”
“Prove it!” retort: No evidentiary support. No documentation, such as video, photograph, email, contemporaneous notes or witnesses (or people willing to come forward).
Killing the messenger tactic: Truth-telling can be dangerous because it can implicate people who may have done something wrong and they don’t want to be held accountable. Also, see No. 1, 2, 4 and 7.
“No one ever said I couldn’t” defense: Policies and procedures are vague, unclear or nonexistent. People can avoid accountability through technicalities and by pleading ignorance.
Likability multiplier: Whether someone is popular or not impacts believability and lenience, which can result in a bias. Also, see No. 4 and 5.
Discrimination: It happens all the time. I don’t think I really need to explain it.
Retaliation: People can be assholes. If someone is evil and has power, they will use it against others. Also, see No. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9.