OCTOBER 9, 2007

           
On Tuesday, October 9 the University of San Diego (USD) in conjunction with the San Diego Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) Unit hosted the Eleventh annual James Bond Stockdale Symposium on Leadership and Ethics.  The Annual Symposium is designed to bring scholars, teachers, students and military personnel from across the country together to discuss and debate current world situations involving leadership and ethics.

More than three hundred students, professors, local citizens and local military personnel attended the lecture “Ethical Leadership: How Things Go Wrong, How To Do Better," delivered by Dr. Albert C. Pierce.  Dr. Pierce, a Professor of Ethics and National Security at the National Defense University in Washington D.C., has had a long career in government service working and teaching at the United States Naval Academy as well as the Pentagon.  The focus of the lecture was how proper leadership can prevent ethical problems from occurring throughout this country, and, should they occur, how to respond.

“Dr. Pierce was able to bring world-wide political problems down to my level,” said USD Senior and NROTC Battalion Commanding Officer Michael Crawford.  One of the main focuses of Dr. Pierce’s lecture was the current business world and the corporate corruption that has ensued in the last five years.  Dr. Pierce noted that due to these scandals business schools across the country have significantly adjusted their ethics courses.  Dr. Pierce then related the ethical issues in business to the War on Terrorism and offered suggestions on determining what is ethical behavior.  He challenged the audience to think about “what was ethical at 8:45 AM on September 11, 2001” and how that applied to the world today.
           
The Stockdale Symposium began in 1998 as a lecture series on a topic related to the relationship between leadership and ethics.  The lecture has been delivered by prominent scholars or civic leaders who have embodied the application of ethical principles to professional life either in research or professional practice.  The NROTC Unit at USD uses the Symposium as a way to inspire ethical reflection in its members, who will invariably call on their ethical training when they become officers.  The lectures are supplemented by one or more seminars designed to explore ethical issues and to honor Vice Admiral Stockdale, Medal of Honor recipient and the top-ranking American POW in Vietnam.  The transcripts of the lectures will be posted on the University of San Diego Values Institute Web site to allow faculty, students, donors and others the ability to read and reflect on the night’s teachings.

                                                                                                            -Battalion PAO