Sixteen Medill faculty members signed a statement, released Tuesday, criticizing Dean John Lavine for his use of anonymous quotes in a column he wrote for the school’s alumni magazine. They also called for him to “put an end to what has become an embarrassment” to the school and the university.
The statement said that the controversy over the dean’s use of anonymous sources, first reported in a Daily Northwestern column, “has become a crisis for the school.” The column generated local and national media attention, from the Chicago Tribune to National Public Radio.
The faculty statement cited a Chicago Sun-Times editorial that called for the dean to reveal any notes or records of the quotes.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Dean Lavine was unavailable to comment on the statement. He has earlier defended the quotes in a statement to the faculty, and to journalists seeking comment.
Some signers of Tuesday’s statement said they had already received messages of support and approval by the afternoon, especially from former Medill students.
But professors, both those who signed and those who didn’t, also said that the faculty has been divided about how to respond to the controversy — whether they should speak directly to Lavine or release a public statement first.
Former Medill Dean Loren Ghiglione said he would have preferred to talk to the dean directly, but partly felt compelled to speak up and sign the letter because he’s the school’s first Richard Schwarzlose Professor of Media Ethics.
“This particular controversy puts me in an awkward position, because I’m teaching media ethics,” he said.
Before this statement, Ghiglione said, he has tried to refrain from commenting on Lavine or on the recent changes at Medill.
Drafts of the statement had only been circulated among some faculty members over the past 24 hours or so, said Prof. Charles Whitaker, who runs Medill’s magazine program. He too signed the final letter.
“I signed because I thought, as a faculty, we should go on record saying that this is the sort of thing we don’t think should happen,” Whitaker said. He said that Lavine deserved the same scrutiny as any student.
Prof. David Nelson, who’s generally been away from the Evanston campus this quarter, said that he had just been getting up to speed with the debate. But he said that he wished the statement had reflected a greater consensus.
“It ought to have been involved with the whole faculty,” he said.
The school has more than 100 journalism faculty members, according to its Web site.
Nelson suggested that the full faculty should have a meeting to discuss possible petitions to bring to Lavine, “anything from backing him to asking him to leave.”
Nelson also said that he thought the faculty should have spoken to Lavine before releasing the statement to the media.
“If he disagreed — then you go to The Daily Northwestern,” Nelson said.
Prof. Douglas Foster was another of the letter’s signers.
“I signed the letter because it’s consistent with the values of the teaching I do, and I felt that not to sign would contradict my own teaching in the school,” Foster said.
Michele Weldon, an assistant professor, said she disagreed both with the content and the tactics of the statement.
“I intentionally didn’t sign it,” she said.
The media coverage of the controversy has also been unfair, Weldon said.
Weldon, who regularly teaches Medill’s freshmen reporting classes, said she’s been discussing the topic with students. She noted David Spett used anonymous sourcing for his Daily Northwestern column, and said she has warned her students to remain transparent and accurate.
“I teach all the freshmen: Assume nothing,” she said.
Weldon also said that the idea that faculty has been too scared to speak up underestimates Medill’s professors and lecturers.
“Give us a little more credit,” Weldon said.
Full disclosure: Both reporters are Medill students.