Where We Are 
Former fugitive describes slippery slope of unethical behavior
Speaking to a near-capacity crowd of students, faculty, staff, and members of the public in Burruss auditorium, Kuhse discussed his descent down the "slippery slope" of unethical behavior, the eight critical thinking errors he made, the "greed is good" philosophy he encountered, and the impact of his wrongdoing on his family.
Unethical behavior, he said, often results not from a "giant leap" but from a series of small steps -- "seemingly unimportant decisions" and small compromises that, through their cumulative impact, create larger ethical problems.
His talk, "From Prominence to Prison: Why Smart People Do Dumb Things," and the symposium were sponsored by the Business Leadership Center of the Department of Management in the Pamplin College of Business and supported by a Warren Lloyd Holtzman Seed Grant from the Community Foundation of the New River Valley.
In his new career as a speaker, trainer, and consultant on business ethics and leadership, Kuhse conducts presentations for universities, civic groups, businesses, international professional associations, and law enforcement agencies. His talks, he said, are aimed at provoking audience members to think more deeply about their own behavior.
Kuhse also met faculty for an informal seminar to discuss the incorporation of ethics topics in classroom teaching.