Accountability for All, and to All a Good Night!

Recently, I found myself in a difficult situation. A potentially life-altering situation. A situation that was not my fault.

While applying for one of two exchange positions at a prestigious Australian university, I asked a favorite professor for a recommendation. He has taught me three out of my five undergraduate semesters, and so I thought that he knew me significantly better than many other instructors I have had. He agreed to write the letter, saying that he would be glad to provide me with an excellent reference. Imagine how thrilled I was.

Now imagine how heart-broken I was when I found out that he did not submit his letter of recommendation like he said he would. I gave him two weeks' notice to write it. I went to him the day before it was due and offered to deliver the (then yet-unwritten) letter. He told me in no uncertain terms that he would get it to the office on time. Imagine my shock when he did not. I have sent him two politely neutral emails over the past week, neither of which he has answered. Luckily, I found a current TA who was willing to write me a letter with a turnaround time of 8 hours (from one evening to the following afternoon).

However, I have missed the opportunity for either of the exchange positions. The only option now is the $7,700 more expensive study abroad option, which my family and I cannot afford. Because of one professor's delinquency, I was not even considered for the exchange positions.

Today, I found out that a friend applying for a similar program has found himself in the same situation.

Folks, this has got to stop. People who are in charge of us should be held accountable for everything they do. We as undergraduates, we as CITIZENS are expected to answer for everything we do. If we receive a speeding ticket, we are expected to pay the fine. If we commit murder, we are expected to do the time. If we break a contract, we are expected to face the consequences. Why should it be any different for those in authority?

This is not just a problem on the professorial level of universities: It is a national problem on all levels. Officials are not being held accountable, and that is just not acceptable.

The problems with this nation are not entirely the fault of our leaders, just as they are not entirely the fault of the common man. We share the responsibility for the problems we have today. I'm sick of pundits saying that the predatorial lendors are solely at fault, and I'm sick of them saying that the people who took out these outrageous loans are solely at fault. Neither side should have done what they did! The lenders should be held accountable. The people who took out the outrageous loans should be held accountable (to an extent). And the politicians who stood by and let this happen by means of mass deregulation should be held accountable, as well as the regulators who did not enforce the regulations that stayed in place.

Leaders are supposed to set an example for us. If this is the example our leaders set, that there are no repercussions for doing wrong, then what are we supposed to believe?

We are all at fault. And as long as our leaders sit around pointing fingers, nothing will get done. Those in authority and power, whether they are government officials, CEOs, or professors must be made to answer to the broad public they serve. In order for our private and governmental institutions to operate effectively and efficiently, we must have accountability and oversight.

That is how our freedoms will be protected. That is how our futures will improve.

By the way, there is no avenue that I have found through which my friend and I can lodge a complaint about our professors. As far as we know, there will be no consequences to them for the damage they may have done to us, and there will be nothing to deter them from doing it to yet another student.