By Oh Young-jin
City Editor

There appears to be neither light nor truth in the way Yale University is handling the defamation case brought against it by Dongguk University over what the private U.S. college calls "innocent mistakes" for its role in helping trigger the Shin Jeong-ah scandal.

Yale's pattern of behavior not only dims its motto ― Lux et veritas ― but also reminds one of an act of senility by a grumpy 308-year-old man (Yale was founded in 1701).

A good school matures over the years and rejuvenates itself on the mission of teaching tomorrow's leaders but, by this standard, Yale is obviously undershooting its mission and tradition or, more simply, shooting itself in the foot.

For those non-Yalies who, by now, may be having a gleeful bout of schadenfreude, there's an ultimate lowdown.

In a letter to the editor at The New York Times published online Nov. 7, Tom Conroy, deputy director of Yale's public relations, self-contradicts himself by raising an issue over the newspaper's Oct. 29 article. He started his letter by describing Yale as well as Dongguk as "victims" in Shin's fraud but ended on a bellicose note by portraying Dongguk as a liar trying to pursue gains at the expense of his school.

By the tone of his letter, Conroy apparently took the matter personally.

In the Oct. 29 article, The New York Times made a mockery of Conroy, quoting him as saying, "I have no idea what that means," in response to an allegation by an American lawyer for Dongguk that Yale's behavior "dishonored the slogan ― 'light and truth'" as found on the university's seal. The lawyer is a Yale alumnus, who argued his alma mater was "attacking the victim."

Let's set aside the heavy "lip-ting" by lawyers and flack officers for a moment and jog our collective memory over the core issue ― the Shin Jeong-ah scandal that pits Dongguk and Yale against each other in a $50-million libel suit.

Shin, now in jail after being convicted of falsifying official documents and embezzling funds, joined Dongguk, a Buddhism-based secular school, in 2005 as an art history professor, thanks mainly to what turned out to be her forged Yale Ph.D. It's hard to disregard the possibility that she got the job thanks partially to her paramour, who worked as a senior advisor to the President at that time, and was also a Buddhist himself and had studied at Yale.

Facing unsavory rumors over her Yale credentials, Dongguk asked Yale to confirm Shin's academic credentials. Despite her fake credentials that had her own name misspelled on them, the administrator faxed Dongguk the confirmation.

In 2007, a big scandal broke loose over Shin's love affair with the presidential advisor and her life of lies. Questions over Shin's Yale credentials returned to the spotlight. Dongguk checked back with Yale but the New Haven-based school denied the existence of Dongguk's initial inquiry two years ago. When confronted with its affirmation letter, its president apologized. Dongguk wasn't satisfied and took the matter to a U.S. court. The two sides tried to come up with an out-of-court settlement but, obviously, their effort failed.

I would have dismissed the whole episode as a combination of comedy and tragedy in one big theater of the absurd if it were not for such a prominent cast of actors ― two prestigious universities.

I support a settlement outside court because a protracted in-court dispute will most likely turn out to be frivolous, embarrassing not just the two schools but worsening the public's already low esteem of the education system.

But any out-of-court settlement should be initiated by Yale. It is beyond doubt that Yale was at fault. Insisting that it was an innocent mistake and the school has done all it can by admitting to and apologizing for the mistake is not enough.

Here is a piece of advice about a generally accepted way of apologizing in Korea. If you make a mistake and are ready to apologize, you should act out of heart and try to ensure that the other party sympathizes with you. Mind one Korean saying that goes, "The ripe rice plants lower their heads," meaning that one shows his or her maturity by a show of deep respect to others.

Judging by Conroy's remarks, it is hard to blame Dongguk for seeing Yale's apology on a take-it-or-leave-it basis.

At a more practical level, Yale has more to lose than Dongguk. The last time I checked the global rankings of colleges and universities, Yale had to look a great number of rungs below to find Dongguk, if it was listed at all. Not that I take those rankings seriously but they at least illustrate the gulf of difference in global recognition.

For Dongguk, it is time to grow up and live up to its founding tenets ― helping foster young and talented people on the Buddhist virtues of forgiveness and love. From a third-party perspective, it can't be completely denied that its lawsuit is superficial at best and vindictive at the worst.

Yale's claim that Dongguk's lawsuit is a diversion tactic, aimed at taking away public attention from a show of its incompetency on the basis of a nationalist sentiment, can hardly be dismissed.

Having said all this, I am running the risk of self-contradiction ― pointing the two opposing litigants' faults from what can be taken as a self-righteous point of view. But I think the two renowned schools have a big social obligation, besides their self-proclaimed mission as institutes of higher learning. That obligation is to try and preserve the sanctity of education, one of the few remaining bulwarks in a world where greed (Wall Street) and violence (Iraq) prevail. Stop acting like little kids dueling in a back alley and start behaving like adults who can resolve differences by the force of reason.

foolsdie@koreatimes.co.kr