Disgraced ex-New York Times reporter Jayson Blair talking to college students about ethics? What’s next? The former head of Lehman Brothers on financial risk management? Such was the blogosphere’s snarky tone last week when Washington & Lee University in Virginia announced Blair would speak today, Nov. at a journalism conference there. But if the cheap irony of a famous fabulist lecturing on ethics was too much to resist, perhaps it could also prompt colleges to think more seriously about something they often shy away from: the value of exposing students to, and preparing them for, failure. For some people, like Blair, failure is spectacular and public. For others, it’s just falling short of expectations — in their careers or personal lives. But you won’t find many examples of either type among the guest speaker announcements of college bulletins. Instead, you’ll find a parade of winners — titans of the arts and commerce and politics, many of them alumni, returned triumphantly to campus to inspire the next generation (and, implicitly, to demonstrate to customers the college is worth up to $50,000 a year). They may well talk about past failures on their eventual path to success. But rarely is the podium held by someone who just failed. That’s understandable — but too bad. Teachers say failure is something so-called Gen Y students want to hear more about.