Photo/Illutration Mariko Watahiki, a lawyer who chaired a panel looking into illegal drug use at the Nihon University football team, center, speaks at an Oct. 31 news conference. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Will there be a rebirth? Scandal-beleaguered Nihon University is at a critical crossroads.

A third-party committee, examining the university’s handling of illegal substance abuse by members of its football team, released a report on Oct. 31 that was severely critical of Yasuhiro Sawada, the vice president in charge of competitive sports.

In response, the university’s administrators held a board of trustees meeting on Nov. 10 to discuss various issues, including what to do about Sawada, but failed to reach a decision.

It is their responsibility to swiftly decide whom to hold accountable, compile a realistic plan to prevent a recurrence and disclose it to the public. They don't have the time to waste by leaking an audio tape of discussions about Sawada’s treatment or appearing on TV to criticize one another.

The third-party report used many pages to point out Sawada’s questionable words and deeds. In particular, the report stated that when a plant fragment that resembled cannabis was discovered at the football team's dormitory, Sawada did not report it to police for as long as 12 days.

“The information obtained was conveniently distorted under a unique standard of judgment far removed from what general society regards as common sense,” the report claimed.

The third-party panel also commented on the university’s “organizational defects,” such as the absence of clear rules regarding what information should be sent where.

As for the individuals who should supervise Sawada--Takeo Sakai, the university president, and Mariko Hayashi, the chairperson of the board of trustees--the report said they were both lacking in compliance awareness, which meant their governance “did not function at all.”

The university’s enormous influence on competitive sports was the source from which the university’s previous administration, centered around Hayashi’s predecessor, drew its power.

This meant that for the university to reform itself, there could be no avoiding taking a good, hard look at the very nature of competitive sports. This was going to require a great deal of labor, but it was a top priority. However, Hayashi delegated everything to Sawada and his team.

There are many other issues, aside from what the third-party panel pointed out, that the university must tackle.

When Hayashi assumed her current post in summer last year, she said she was considering creating a task force consisting of lawyers and school administrators.

Such a group would be indispensable for reforming Nihon University, which is a mammoth organization with a student body of 70,000 and a teaching and other staff of 4,000 personnel. 

A task force needs to be established as soon as possible to serve as an entity that is dedicated to reform and does the bidding of the university’s administrators.

But despite the urgency of the situation, there is a deepening “conflict” now between Hayashi’s clique and Sawada’s clique. This is slowing things for administrators, and students and teaching staff are lamenting that this is further hurting the university’s public image.

For the third year in a row, it has been decided that Nihon University will not be getting a 9-billion-yen ($59.7 million) annual government subsidy for private universities.

And the number of applicants to Nihon University is already declining. Should this trend continue, business could go south even for this major university, which, in turn, may seriously impact the quality of education and research.

There is not much time left for Nihon University to recover its lost credibility and regain its normal state.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Nov. 15

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