Stanford GSB's Statement on "Hacking" - integrity, fairness, accountability, & r

引文：

"We will lead on this issue by doing not only what is right for Stanford but also what is fair for the 41 applicants."

"we are treating each applicant as we would wish to be treated"

"I hope you agree that the character of an individual or an institution is highlighted in challenging times, and Stanford's character is and will remain one of integrity, fairness, accountability, and respect for others."

"But we hope that they also might learn from the experience we have asked them to undertake since learning of these attempts to gain unauthorized access. By reflecting on their actions and taking ownership for their errors, then sharing those explanations and insights with us, the applicants may grow as individuals."

全文：

To all members of the GSB community:

Given recent media coverage of the unauthorized access to the accounts of 41 Stanford MBA applicants on the ApplyYourself decision status page and the responses by other affected business schools, I want to ensure that you hear directly from me how the Stanford Graduate School of Business is proceeding. Some recent media accounts have not satisfactorily captured our School's response. Simply stated, we are deciding each case according to the facts of that case; in other words, we are treating each applicant as we would wish to be treated.

Let me at the outset state that we view any attempts by an applicant to view admission decisions early as a very serious matter. We are dismayed by the actions of any individual who has sought to gain unauthorized access here, and certainly will factor this behavior into our assessment of the applicant's candidacy. The standards for admission to the Stanford MBA Program already are the highest in the world, and these individuals now have to clear an additional hurdle. That will be difficult. In the best case, what has been demonstrated here is a lack of judgment; in the worst case, a lack of integrity. However, Stanford will neither make a collective decision on individual applications nor issue a broad statement on specific cases. To do so would be inconsistent with our admission practices and philosophy. Please do not mistake our reluctance to judge applicants in the media for reluctance to hold applicants accountable for the consequences of their actions.

In the admission process, we will review carefully the file of each applicant involved in these incidents, ensuring that we uphold the GSB's values while treating such applicants fairly. Issuing blanket decisions without considering specific circumstances strikes us as both unwise and unjust. It is extremely difficult to imagine a plausible scenario that could satisfactorily explain unauthorized access to the ApplyYourself decision status page; still, fairness is required. We know which accounts were accessed improperly, for example, but in some cases it is not known who accessed these accounts.  To illustrate, what if an applicant is in a remote location without access to email. Her husband, without her knowledge or permission, discerned her ApplyYourself login and password and viewed her decision page. Are we to automatically deny the applicant in this case for actions she neither engaged in nor authorized? Since Stanford has no appeal process for denied applicants (in contrast to some of our peer schools), we have decided to offer each applicant the opportunity to explain his/her behavior and to take ownership of his/her actions before we render a decision. This explains our desire to follow an individualized process instead of issuing a sweeping judgment.

As an educational institution, we would like our applicants learn from this incident. Those denied admission at Stanford and elsewhere will learn from that outcome, of course. But we hope that they also might learn from the experience we have asked them to undertake since learning of these attempts to gain unauthorized access. By reflecting on their actions and taking ownership for their errors, then sharing those explanations and insights with us, the applicants may grow as individuals. This is another reason why we have encouraged any applicant who has sought to gain unauthorized access to come forward.

Many alumni and other concerned parties have urged Stanford to "show leadership" in this case by automatically denying admission to all such applicants.  While it is possible that none of the applicants whose accounts were accessed may ultimately be offered admission to the MBA Program, those who urge this “automatic denial” view do not expect enough of us. We will lead on this issue by doing not only what is right for Stanford but also what is fair for the 41 applicants. We are living the GSB's values. We are demonstrating integrity in our actions by adhering to the University's processes and values in the face of external pressure to presume the guilt of all of these applicants. We are demonstrating fairness by pursuing an individualized process for every applicant, yet ensuring that each applicant will face appropriate consequences for his/her behavior. We are demanding accountability not only from the applicants whose accounts were accessed but also from the vendor ApplyYourself. And we are exhibiting respect for individuals by notifying applicants of the consequences of their actions directly rather than relaying the disposition of these cases via the media. I hope you agree that the character of an individual or an institution is highlighted in challenging times, and Stanford's character is and will remain one of integrity, fairness, accountability, and respect for others.

I thank you for taking time to read this explanation and ask that you contact Derrick Bolton or me with further questions.

Best regards,
Bob

Robert L. JossPhilip H. Knight Professor and Dean
Stanford Graduate School of Business

Our prior statement on this matter is available at http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/news/headlines/mba_apps_hacked.shtml

"要相信他不要我他是白痴"

这话是个硬道理. 严重同意.

Stanford才是真正的大家风范呀~~~

"we are treating each applicant as we would wish to be treated"

"And we are exhibiting respect for individuals by notifying applicants of the consequences of their actions directly rather than relaying the disposition of these cases via the media."

Mutural Respection，以己度人，把applicants放在和自己平等的level上-- 太让人感动了

越发觉得Stanford的深邃宽广是Harvard的昭昭然不能比的

两个学校的风格，价值观还是很不同啊，很很很欣赏和喜欢stanford的风范！！