A Times Editorial

Damage control at FSU

© St. Petersburg Times, published August 7, 2000

Florida State University President Talbot "Sandy" D'Alemberte keeps practicing damage control when he should be exerting institutional control.

An independent report issued this week merely confirmed what just about everyone at FSU except D'Alemberte realized long ago: D'Alemberte, the former dean of FSU's law school, "bears direct responsibility" for the university's extended failure to conduct a proper investigation of sexual harassment complaints revolving around a notorious law school professor. But instead of acknowledging the central shortcomings detailed in the report, D'Alemberte responded by accusing the investigators (from an Austin-based law firm retained by FSU's office of inspector general) of "sloppy thinking" and "gross distortion of the record."

If anything, D'Alemberte should be thankful the report's conclusions weren't even more damning. Investigators concluded the school had not created a hostile work environment based on gender or race. Yet some female faculty members and students who left the law school say FSU administrators condoned a pattern of discrimination, harassment and inappropriate conduct. And the report notes that D'Alemberte "create(d) an appearance of impropriety and favoritism" in his handling of complaints lodged against law school professor William McHugh -- accused of a pattern of inappropriate behavior including exposing himself to a female student, making vulgar comments in class and making degrading comments about women.

Complaints about McHugh date to the 1980s, when D'Alemberte was law school dean. D'Alemberte's explanations for his failure to address formal complaints against McHugh back then "are not credible," the report concludes. More than a decade later, with McHugh still on the faculty and D'Alemberte now president, discrimination and harassment were still being blamed for the departure of some of McHugh's female colleagues.

D'Alemberte's response to the report is disappointing but not surprising. D'Alemberte, who became FSU's presidency after a distinguished legal career that included a term as president of the American Bar Association, isn't a traditional college administrator, but he was expected to bring a new level of dignity to the university's governance. Instead, the mishandling of several controversies on his watch, including the law school mess, various athletic department scandals and unseemly alliances between university officials and Tallahassee politicians has tarnished FSU's reputation.

The job of restoring that reputation can't begin until D'Alemberte and other FSU leaders finally break out of damage-control mode and acknowledge the mistakes of the recent past.

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