Commentary
On Penn State Football, Integrity
And Campus Israel Activism
aim.
Washington
M
any of us who care about
the campus community have
followed news
and events surrounding
Penn State's storied foot-
ball program with shock,
horror and revulsion.
Allegations of sexual
abuse are that much
more stunning when they
place those acts at the
very heart of an institu-
tion that has fostered an
image of an earnest work
ethic and a bygone era of
humility and honesty. We
can all be saddened for the victims of
this abuse, for the irreparable dam-
age done to an athletic program that
brought attention and prominence
to its school and to the even greater
damage done to the already tarnished
image of college athletics as a whole.
There's an important lesson here
for the campus Israel network, too —
one that goes far beyond our regular
Dry Bones
struggles to build a more vibrant cam-
pus environment for Israel. It goes to
the heart of who and what we are — to
the notion of integrity.
Insight into integrity
I've heard many definitions
of integrity. Dictionary.com
defines it as "adherence to
moral and ethical principles;
soundness of moral charac-
ter; honesty." I have heard
one prominent supporter of
Jewish campus life define
integrity as "doing what you
say you're going to do, when
you say you're going to do it."
To me, integrity isn't what
you say, or even what you do; with
due respect to the proponents of
the definitions above, that describes
dependability or reliability, but not
integrity. A person can be reliable in
their actions or reactions, but that
does not make them a person of
integrity, any more than a vending
machine has integrity. Integrity con-
veys something more — a conscious
choice of action
that is not only
dependable or
predictable, but
reaches something
deeper and greater.
I would even
take issue with the
dictionary defini-
tion that equates
integrity with hon-
esty. As much as
I admire a person
of honesty, I can
imagine a person
of great integrity
who recognizes
when unflinching
honesty would not
serve.
Integrity is not
just dependabil-
ity and reliability,
adherence to the
rules, or simple
honesty: Integrity
is being prepared
to do the difficult
thing, in a difficult
circumstance and
to stand for what's
right even when
the reliable, dependable or contextual-
ly honest thing would be to do some-
thing far easier. Integrity is possession
of the strength of character and will
to hold to your highest principles,
even when immediate or narrow self-
interest dictates otherwise.
Integrity is not just holding onto
that strength of character for a day,
or a week or a year; it's keeping it
forever. It means having it when you
are a student or collegiate athlete,
when you are a graduate assistant,
when you are an assistant coach or
head coach, when you are an athletic
director and when you are a uni-
versity president. It means living a
life and behaving in such a way that
those highest principles dictate every
action, because unlike college athlet-
ics, the world keeps score on integrity
every moment of every day.
Matter Of Israel
What does this have to do with
pro-Israel activity on campus?
Everything.
Those who are committed to creat-
ing a positive campus environment
for Israel must demonstrate that they
possess integrity. While we know only
a select few members of the campus
community will have the fortune to
experience Israel firsthand, the inter-
action with a campus Israel activist
can, and will, shape the view that
many on campus have of Israel for
years to come. Integrity is important,
then, because of the representative
character that it reflects.
Behaving with integrity is the most
compelling way that we as a campus
Israel community can demonstrate
to others the courage and power of
our convictions; integrity is our most
important tool as advocates.
I learned this time and again as a
courtroom advocate and continue to
see it in countless environments: The
dependability, reliability and honesty
that are attributes of a person of
integrity also persuade and attract
others to believe in the advocate's
cause. It communicates — more
powerfully than any advocacy tac-
tic or technique ever could — that
the advocate's cause is right and
just, and that we as advocates are
unafraid of close scrutiny of the jus-
tice of our cause.
Staying Untarnished
Living with integrity is seldom easy.
The perceived rewards of slipping
away from integrity tempt continual-
ly; those who succeed without integ-
rity taunt those who choose to live
with a principled life. It's not as easy,
and seldom as immediate, to see the
hollowness of such success.
Penn State football offers us the
dramatic, and tragic, case in point:
Regardless of what is ultimately prov-
en of the horrific allegations at hand,
the accomplishments of 50 years of
college athletes associated with that
program will forever be tarnished with
a terrible stain.
The campus Israel network is com-
prised of students, faculty, campus
professionals, administrators and
more who choose a more difficult
but more principled course, precisely
because the rewards may be less
immediate but more important. It's
an important life lesson that will
serve them well whether they're 18
or 88. It means putting aside per-
sonal interest and gain to adhere
to the greater mission that we as a
campus Israel network have commit-
ted to upholding.
Things that are worthwhile are
seldom easy. A few months ago, one
might have looked to the Penn State
football program as an example of
such character. Now we must look
there for the very different reason
of a powerful cautionary tale and
reminder of the centrality of integ-
rity to all that we do.
Stephen Kuperberg, a University of Michigan
graduate, is executive director of Israel on
Campus Coalition, which publishes "Israel
Campus Beat," where this column first
appeared.
Israel Campus Beat is the premier
student-written online publication
providing up-to-date reports and
insights on the North American
campus Israel scene. Visit www.
israelcampusbeat.org/subscribe
for the latest Israel trends and
events on campus.
December
5 2011
53