U.S.C. sex and drugs scandal: would attending such a graduate school hurt one's chances at an academic career?

Question

The University of Southern California (U.S.C.) medical school is currently rocked by a sex and drugs scandal involving the dean of the school -- and possibly other faculty and administrative leaders that worked to cover up the scandal.

Would attending a graduate program rocked by scandals hurt one's chances of landing academic jobs afterwards?

Sources:

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/25/us/usc-scandal-carmen-puliafito.html

[2] http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-usc-dean-pasadena-overdose-20170725-htmlstory.html

Answer 1

One cannot, of course, guarantee that there will be no negative outcomes for going to a school currently being rocked by a scandal. But I cannot imagine they'd have significant repercussions outside the occasional comment about "What was that like?" Especially given the current scandal appears primarily focused on a Dean (a position fairly far removed from the average graduate student) and his colorful private life.

If that scandal had major repercussions in terms of academic fraud, human subjects protections, or specifically involved the lab you were in, the answer might be different.

Answer 2

There is no guarantee that there will be no scandal in another university you wish to attend.

It's just evanescence news. Every university has somewhat dealt with different types of scandals. If you dig further, other universities had similar ones in the past. The fault of individuals cannot damage a university reputation unless the number is high enough for making a generalization.

The answer is that it is least of your concern when choosing a university.