Members of the Medill faculty released a statement Monday afternoon strongly condemning Dean John Lavine in a controversy surrounding anonymous quotes used in an alumni magazine.
The situation has led the university provost's office to examine accusations made against Lavine and provoked an outcry from Medill alumni.
"This matter has become a crisis for the school," said a letter signed by 16 members of the journalism school's faculty. "The principles of truthfulness and transparency in reporting are at the core of Medill's professional and academic mission."
The statement, which was also sent to the Chicago Tribune as well as NU President Henry Bienen and Provost Dan Linzer, called for the dean to "put an end to what has become an embarrassment to Northwestern and to Medill."
The controversy began after a Feb. 11 column by Daily columnist David Spett that questioned the use and authenticity of anonymous sources in an article published the alumni magazine last spring.
In the "Letter from the Dean" that opened the issue, Lavine quoted an anonymous student praising an advertising class. Spett wrote that he contacted all 29 students in the class but could not find the source of the quote.
Lavine said he could not remember the source of the quote but vouched for its authenticity, pointing the way to a video where students made similar comments.
Lavine's office referred requests for comment Tuesday to university spokesman Al Cubbage.
"Questions have been raised recently regarding the use of unnamed sources and the veracity of quotations by John Lavine. … The Office of the Provost is reviewing those questions," Cubbage said in a written statement.
NU cannot comment on the review because it is a personnel matter, the statement continued.
Many faculty members said they signed the statement to uphold the fundamentals of journalism that Medill teaches its students.
"The most important thing as a result of the statement is to generate the type of discussion about the sorts of standards we're teaching about in class every day - the sanctity of reporting methods, the kind of bond of trust we have with our sources and with our readers, that anything we place in quotation marks was reliably said precisely," said Associate Professor Douglas Foster, who signed the statement.
"It was important for those of us who teach the subject to say the same thing to the outside world as to the students every day in the classroom."
Former Dean Loren Ghiglione, who was replaced by Lavine in Winter Quarter 2006, was among the faculty members to sign the letter.
"I'm saddened by the controversy and coverage and I hope that the dean will take steps that will end the controversy and allow him to continue making the needed changes at Medill," Ghiglione said.
The decision to sign is a personal one for professors and lecturers, said Assistant Professor Mindy Trossman.
"The controversy was escalating very quickly, we felt, and we knew we wanted to get something out quickly and some people perhaps wanted more time to mull it over and think about it," she said.
An additional lecturer added his name to the statement after its release, bringing the number of faculty signatures to 17.
Professor David Protess said the statement will be re-circulated among faculty today.
Members of the school's Board of Advisers have responded to the statement with support for faculty.
"I think this raises questions that many people believe the dean has not answered," said George de Lama, Medill '79, deputy managing editor for news at the Chicago Tribune.**
The Tribune has editorialized on the controversy and covered it since the column first appeared.
"It is imperative that the dean and Medill be totally transparent on this issue because that is one of the basic tenets of good journalism," said Sidmel Estes-Sumpter, Medill '76 and '77, a broadcast producer in Atlanta.
The controversy has also provoked discussion on alumni e-mail listservs and on journalism Web sites. Lavine was already a controversial figure because of the changes he has instituted in the journalism program, and a faculty resolution in June criticized the methods he used to make those changes.
"It's a good first step, but I do think it needs to go a step farther than just pulling out the name of a student," Estes-Sumpter said. "We need to have a very honest and frank discussion about the values that Dean Lavine has when it comes to journalism and journalism at Medill. Just pulling out a name doesn't answer the question: Are we the same Medill as we have been historically?"
nathalietadena2007@u.northwestern.edu
**Correction: An article in Wednesday's Daily misidentified Chicago Tribune Managing Editor for News George de Lama. He did not say whether he approved of the Medill faculty's letter and said he was speaking just as an alumnus. Also, de Lama has recused himself from Tribune editorial meetings regarding the Medill story because he is on the school's Board of Advisers.
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