I’ve refrained from commenting on the pathetic story of Aleksey Vayner till now because, I suppose, it’s just so dispiriting; I want to throw up my hands and say, well, one more con man in the Stephen Glass mode.

But this Times article about Vayner does raise some interesting issues, particularly with regard to whether the Yale undergraduate should be disciplined by the college for setting up what appears to be a fraudulent charity.

A Yale spokeswoman declines to comment, which is unfortunate.

Here’s why: Our nation’s finest universities are supposed to be role models. They hold themselves out as places of virtue, if only because they suggest that their graduates are fit to lead the nation and the world.

So when an undergraduate commits fraud, as Kaavya Viswanathan did at Harvard—whether legally a crime or not—this is not just an internal matter for Yale or Harvard. It affects the university’s reputation and the legitimacy of higher education in American society generally.

That’s why it’s important for Harvard to make public statements about Viswanathan or Andrei Shleifer, and why Yale shouldn’t just offer a “no comment” about this student, who is obviously a fraud through and through.

Instead, there’s a “cover your ass” mentality that feels like spin, public relations, and just basically bullshit.