TO THE EDITOR:
I’ve been trying to make sense of Jan Boxill’s involvement in the academic and athletic scandals illustrated by Kenneth Wainstein’s report released yesterday.
Former faculty chairwoman. Director of the Parr Center for Ethics. Sports ethics scholar. Over the past 24 hours, the titles attributed to Boxill have been viewed by others with laughable irony.
Upon hearing the news, I was brokenhearted. Friends and family have heard me sing Jan’s praises and refer to her as my “fairy godmother” and “beloved professor.” Not because she facilitated the fabrication of my academic career, but because she pushed me to pursue my passions, aided me in forming arguments for Ethics Bowl competitions, recommended legitimate courses for me to take, counseled me during one of the roughest semesters of my personal life and graced me with the gift of always keeping her office door open to chat.
I’ve taken four of her classes, been the captain of the Ethics Bowl team for which she was the faculty adviser and worked on projects with her guidance as a Parr Center Fellow. To say the least, Jan was (and still is) my mentor.
That’s why I’m having such a difficult time trying to reconcile how someone so brilliant, caring and morally upright could have played a role in a scandal such as this. That being said, I’m not turning a blind eye. The fact of the matter is that she was involved and she will be facing the consequences.
While she may have lost perspective of her roles and positions in the midst of making these decisions, I wholeheartedly believe that Jan Boxill did not do so maliciously. I implore you to look further than the headlines and to understand that each member of the UNC community is human and may not always meet our expectations, but we should not crucify those who disappointed us.
Rather, we should move forward and continually strive to better ourselves. This situation, while difficult on multiple levels, gives us the opportunity to do just that.
