'Moral catastrophes' and college sports

The sexual abuse scandals and hierarchical cover-ups in the Catholic Church have torn at the faith of many devoted Catholics. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that this wrongdoing would eventually be described as a moral catastrophe. So it was when an Editor's Note in the Oct. 5, issue of The National Catholic Reporter focused on Georgetown University's Sept. 25 panel discussion "Confronting a Moral Catastrophe: Lay Leadership, Catholic Social Teaching, and the Sexual Abuse Crisis." The Editor's Note was aptly headlined "Church's 'moral catastrophe.'"

Here's another circumstance that somehow has escaped the same level of scrutiny and publicity as that afforded the Catholic Church. The moral wrongdoings associated with cover-ups of sports-related corruption, sexual abuse and alcohol abuse in our nation's colleges and universities are of such a serious nature and wide scale as to collectively qualify as a moral catastrophe somewhat on par with the sexual abuse cover-ups in the church.

What a dilemma that is for Catholic and other Christian colleges and universities that tend to claim the moral high ground in higher education. For more, see "How Colleges Cope with a Perfect Storm" at the website of thedrakegroup.org.

Frank G. Splitt

Mount Prospect