Monday, April 6, 2015

BGSU fires head coach for breaching code of ethics

If you haven’t heard by now, last week BGSU fired their Men’s Basketball Head Coach.  This news is shocking to many athletes, students, faculty, and BG community members.  Coach Jans is a former assistant coach of the successful Wichita State Shockers, and he brought that winning attitude to Bowling Green.  Coach Jans led the Falcons to a 20 win season and the school’s first post season win in decades.  AD Kingston was really excited about Jans’ promising future here at BG, but unfortunately Jans’s unethical behavior ultimately cost him his job.

            In March of this year, an incriminating email was sent to the Athletic Director of  BGSU, and a thorough investigation ensued.  “The investigation revealed some inappropriate conduct Chris Jans had with two women in a local bar on March 21, 2015.” (Robinson, 2015, para. 2).  “Jans was seen touching two women in a sexual manner. According to the letter of termination he admitted to touching one woman, who he knew, and moving her head toward his body.” (Robinson, 2015, para. 9).  The world we live in is filled with technology.  Some of the night in question was caught on tape.  The seven second video has been made public, and Jans can be seen tapping a woman on her butt. (Robinson, 2015)

“The second incident was followed by the eyewitness’ daughter, who is a student-athlete at another university, approaching him and telling him she knew who he was and that he was behaving badly for a head coach.” (Robinson, 2015, para.11).  Jans admits to calling the 2nd young lady a derogatory word, and he admits that he tapped a woman’s butt at the bar.  Jans also has regretfully apologized for his actions. (Robinson, 2015)  “Because of your admitted breach of the comportment obligations of your employment I am terminating your employment for cause effective April 2,2015 at 9:00 a.m.,” Kingston said in the letter. (Robinson, 2015, para.17)  Full Termination Letter & Emails to AD

“The coach is a moral agent, but all too often ethical behavior of coaches is questioned.” (De Sensi & Rosenberg, 2010, p.127).  Last week, there were many gatherings, discussions, and interviews conducted around campus in response to Jans’ termination.  How do you feel about the situation?  If you were the AD, what decision would you have made?  Do you believe Jans’ actions is a violation of BGSU/BGSU Athletics’ code of ethics? Which of the three theoretical approaches (Virtue, Utilitarian, Deontology) is best for this situation?

References

De Sensi, J.T., & Rosenberg, D. (2010). Personal ethics – Rights and responsibilities. In Ethics and Morality in Sport Management (3rd ed.) (pp. 119-134). Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology.

Robinson, C. (2015, April 2). Head men's basketball coach Chris Jans terminated by University. Bgnews.com Retrieved from http://www.bgnews.com/campus/head-men-s-basketball-coach-chris-jans-terminated-by-university/article_4e00d4d2-d9a4-11e4-b17a-478b9ee84401.html

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