Ethical crises on campus require feminist corrections.

Last year's arrest of a college president in Iowa on marijuana charges wasn't an isolated incident. Ethical scandals at colleges and universities keep hitting the headlines, hurting more than those directly involved. Alumni turned away college fundraisers soon after hearing of the arrest.

Men are the protagonists in most of the scandals, which arise in a male competitive environment. Higher education sorely needs a feminist perspective to restore its moral reputation, according to three speakers at a women's caucus meeting of the American Association for Higher Education (AAHE) conference in San Diego in April.

* Diane Wood, assistant professor of education and family and consumer sciences at George Fox University in Newberg OR, approached the ethics of change from a systems perspective.

* Dr. Diane Dean, assistant professor for higher education administration and policy at Illinois State University in Normal IL, discussed day-to-day issues in terms of organizational psychology.

* Antigoni Papadimitriou, a researcher in economic and social sciences at the University of Macedonia in Thessaloniki, Greece, described ways the structure of Greek higher education reduces motives and opportunities for abuse.

Pitfalls of top-down change

Organizational change in higher education affects the rest of society, Wood said. Universities are charged with leading the way into uncharted terrain.