Business School Ethics

A short letter does not allow one to adequately respond to an article that is as factually inaccurate and misleading as David Zinczenko’s “Business Schools That Shun Ethics Courses Should Go Straight to Jail” (Campus Correspondent, Opinion, April 14). While the Moravian College senior has mastered “Sensationalism 101,” he hasn’t the slightest understanding of the curriculum of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.

Zinczenko’s central assertion that Wharton does not teach business ethics is blatantly untrue. Wharton not only offers a business ethics course, it requires that every MBA student pass the course before graduating! Furthermore, ethics are integrated into almost every single graduate and undergraduate course.

Equally absurd is Zinczenko’s statement that former Wharton Dean Russell Palmer “severed” Wharton’s links to Penn’s liberal arts curriculum. In fact, Palmer appointed a committee to redesign the Wharton curriculum, which now includes almost 50% liberal arts plus a foreign language requirement.

Finally, one can only laugh at Zinczenko’s innuendo that Palmer’s emphasis on entrepreneurial training and his commitment to teaching are socially irresponsible. Entrepreneurship is the very lifeblood of our economy, and superior teaching is necessary to guarantee a pre-eminent education.

ALYSSA A. ROKITO & JEFFREY KOO JR., Philadelphia, Pa.