Editorial | Proceed with caution

Last week, the Penn community learned that convicted sex offender Kurt Mitman has been commuting to campus from jail for the past seven months. In response to public outcry, a county judge temporarily suspended Mitman's privileges.

There is no reason why the University should have been unaware of Mitman's criminal past. If sex offenders identify themselves when they move residences, they should do the same when applying to a university. That being said, a criminal past should not necessarily warrant an automatic rejection - after all, we're not about to advocate a witch hunt.

Under current University policy, students are exempt from background checks - they simply check off a box to deny criminal activity. According to Penn spokeswoman Lori Doyle, Mitman applied to Penn a year before the Economics department adopted this section. Currently, all prospective undergraduates must answer the question, and graduate students soon will as well.

The situation changes for employee hiring policies.

"We do criminal background checks for most regular full and part time positions; however, we are reviewing the policy to see if it needs to be strengthened," Doyle said.

But Doyle's definition of "most" includes only Penn staff members. Surprisingly, professors are not subject to this procedure - at neither Penn nor any other Ivy League school. However, a Ph.D. does not guarantee a spotless criminal record.

Doyle stressed that the University does not reject employee applicants based solely on their criminal history. Rather, each individual's record and qualifications are examined in order to determine whether or not previous offenses will negatively affect current job performance.

This strategy should also apply to potential faculty and students with a criminal background. Rehabilitation is one of the primary purposes of a sex offender's jail sentence, and felons engage in programs specially designed to reconfigure their dangerous impulses. Many achieve wellness and resume normal lives.

Unfortunately, this isn't always the case, and Penn should thus evaluate each candidate individually. We can't make a responsible decision without an enforced background check of prospective applicants.

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