Georgia Supreme Court Justice and Kennesaw State alumni Nels Peterson helped kick off Ethics Awareness Week at KSU with an informative and entertaining speech on Nov. 9.
Ethics Awareness Week is celebrated to promote strong ethical commitments throughout the University System of Georgia. At KSU this year, the week’s events spanned from Nov. 7 to Nov. 11. The honored keynote speaker this year was current Georgia Supreme Court justice Nels Peterson, who graduated from KSU in 2001 with a Bachelor of Science in political science and a minor in economics.
Justice Peterson’s speech had the attendees laughing alongside his witty humor and humorous anecdotes. More importantly, though, Justice Peterson’s speech informed the crowd of how ethical decision-making comes into play within anyone’s day-to-day life and how students at KSU can grow into ethical individuals during their time at the university.
Peterson encouraged students to not only act as individuals with ethical duties but as community members with ethical responsibilities. He provided an emphasis on the different facets of ethics and promises that are made to individuals- such as the promise of civility in the face of opposition.
“Civility isn’t a luxury reserved for situations with little at stake,” Justice Peterson said. “To reject this idea to say that some issues are too important to treat our fellow humans as all having inherent worth and dignity is to reduce people to merely a means to an end.”
Justice Peterson also had time to answer questions from the attendees of the speech, who were given a notecard and pen upon their entrance.
One of these questions was how an individual can challenge their personal biases. Justice Peterson advised creating a diverse community to intentionally engage in discussion with. He said that each person has vulnerabilities in themselves that they are not in a position to see, so exposing oneself to a welcoming space where those vulnerabilities can be spotted by others is the best way to overcome that discomfort and inform future decisions with empathy.
When asked about an ethical role model he looked to for inspiration, Justice Peterson named three men he worked under in the past. The first was Judge William H. Pryor Jr., who served for the United States Court of Appeals Eleventh Circuit. Justice Peterson also noted his time working under former Governor and current USG Chancellor Sonny Perdue. Steve Wrigley, previous USG Chancellor, was also an inspiration to Justice Peterson on being an effective and ethical leader, two characteristics that Peterson said go hand-in-hand with success.
Justice Peterson also noted the power that comes with independence, and the responsibility that those in high education have to act accordingly with that independence.
This year’s Ethics Awareness Week featured three live-streamed events: “Chancellor’s Chat: Promoting a Culture of Excellence,” “Academic Integrity and the Academic Misconduct Process” and “Ethics & Compliance Panel Discussion.” Justice Peterson’s speech was also live-streamed but was the only event with an in-person attendance.
