I began this At The Center in the latter part of November while on the way back to the U.S. after a professional ethics workshop in Kuwait University. In view of the pace of change over the last ten years, I had concluded that my 20th Anniver sary column should concentrate on the present. The Kuwait workshop was the second that Michael Davis and I conducted outside the country this year. In April, we journeyed to Taiwan, to direct a similar effort at Chung Yuan Christian University and to meet with philosophers at National Chung- Chen University. Later in the same month, I participated in ethics across the curriculum” planning at Mayaguez University in Puerto Rico.

Ethics Across the World
At all these universities, we found a common language, English, and familiar institutional practices and folkways. So it appears that being at the center” is being part of a world-wide university system, one in which efforts to incorporate practical and professional ethics in the curriculum are gaining momen tum. It is most striking that with all the differences in local customs, traditions, and historical experience, we found that our common morality is our common morality.

The Kuwait University workshop included a case in which a Muslim student, citing religious authority, challenged Professor X’s teaching about interest in an economics course. After some unsettled discussion of ethical issues, a member of the science faculty, wrapped in a black abaya,” her head covered by a black scarf, spoke up. The ethical issue,” she said assertively, is simply academic freedom and personal liberty.” Her remark won instant assent from the other members of her discussion group of about twenty faculty from the sciences, engineering, and the administrative sciences. In Taiwan, the nightly newscast on television showed scenes of an unfolding airport scandal that evoked a little lonesomeness for O’Hare Airport.

Our Anniversary Celebration
Evidently people at universities in the middle east, east Asia, and Latin America want to move up the learning curve quickly, taking advantage of over two decades of work in the U.S. on practical and professional ethics. As we mark our Center’s twentieth anniversary, we too are concentrating on gaining the benefits of two decades of work.

One effort is to move toward dealing with the macro” issues, policy issues. Though we are not yet confident of having the conceptual apparatus at hand, we have identified at least one problem area to tackle—the revitalization of city neighbor hoods like the one in which our university is located. After a long and steep decline from being a vital area of the city in the 20s when it was known as Bronzeville, our neighborhood is beginning to recover. There are still opportunities for genuine revitalization rather than gentrification.

As part of our anniversary celebration, our Center presented a panel in early October on Justice in Upgrading City Neigh borhoods: A Challenge to Professionals.” We wanted to begin discussion of the responsibilities of professionals, institutions, individuals and community organizations in neighborhood revi- talization. We brought together a panel of distinguished professionals with commitments to upgrading neighborhoods and an invited audience providing a wide range of perspectives on neighborhood redevelopment, along with students and faculty.

Two conclusions emerged. One is that professionals who devote their careers to improving city neighborhoods can make a good living and an important contribution to society. The second is that genuine involvement with those living in the neighborhoods is practically necessary and ethically required of those who choose such careers. Professional-school educators and professional societies should begin to figure out how to prepare new and seasoned professionals for this work and how to devise mechanisms for connecting with people in the neighborhoods.

As part of our anniversary celebration, Roger Boisjoly, famous as a whistleblower, gave a public lecture titled Learn ing from the Challenger Disaster: An Ethics Survival Kit.” He told his story of opposing the launch at Morton Thiokol and of testifying to the Presidential Commission about the flawed decision making that led to the launch. Adding earlier work experiences in a number of companies, Boisjoly explained how forthright commitment to high professional standards had earned him a successful engineering career, even at Morton Thiokol. In the discussion about neighborhood revitalization, he noted the relevance of his theme of professionals’ putting out their best. Boisjoly had a powerful impact on the campus.

Change of Address
The most current happening at the Center is our move to new quarters in a building just to the north of our former quarters. The move came just before the end of the semester and is not quite complete. When all the dust has settled, our situation will be improved, with our library in one very large space with the Center. Renouncing predictions, I nevertheless profess confidence about our Center’s next decade. Location, as our recent move confirmed, is always important. The south side of Chicago has given us a vantage point from which to anticipate ethical concerns. That is one reason for confidence.

-Vivian Weil