Editorial | Better safe than sorry

As Penn's Faculty Senate debates whether or not to require prospective professors to self-disclose criminal backgrounds, it's important to remember that a little precaution goes a long way.

To that end, we encourage the Faculty Senate to go a step further in its efforts to reform the University's hiring practices, by requiring criminal background checks on prospective professors.

Many professors, of course, oppose such moves, arguing that background checks are an unnecessary invasion of privacy. Other groups, like the American Association of University Professors, contend that some of the information found could be taken out of context and used to bias the hiring process.

Still, criminal background checks for potential hires are a fairly common practice in other industries, and there's no reason why higher education should be any different. In fact, certain criminal information becomes even more pertinent when hiring professors because prospective hires will probably work directly with students on campus. The University has the right to know whether or not it's hiring a convicted criminal or sex offender to teach a class.

Furthermore, we trust that Penn officials will not discriminate against a prospective professor solely because of a past criminal record.

Gathering such information would simply help Penn make more informed decisions during the hiring process. Respecting individual privacy is fine, but it shouldn't come at the cost of common-sense precautions.

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