8/10/2019 Statement From Dean Lorraine Branham Regarding the 2014 Fall Workshop

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Statement from Dean Lorraine Branham regarding

the 2014 Fall Workshop

October 17, 2014

Yesterday I made a decision that has put us in the middle of the national conversation

about the Ebola virus and the irrational fears about how it is spread. After a discussion

with Multimedia Photography and Design Chair Bruce Strong and Vice Chancellor Eric

Spina, it was decided to rescind an invitation to Washington Post photojournalist

Michel duCille, who was in Liberia last month covering the Ebola crisis. It was not a

decision that we made lightly and we certainly understood that in doing so we opened

ourselves to criticism about stoking fears among the public and spreading i gnorance

about the disease and how it is spread. This is not what you want to do as the dean of

a premiere journalism school. But concern for our students, faculty and staff outweighs

any concern I have about how this decision will be viewed by others.

The photojournalist in question is a three-time Pulitzer Prize winner and a long -timefriend of the school who has regularl y participated in our Fall W orkshop, which begins

this weekend. Both he and his wife, Ni kki Kahn, who is also a photojournalist, had

been invited to participate. We were all looking forward to his vi sit. Then Bruce Strong

learned from a concerned student that duCille had been in Liberia last month covering

the Ebola crisis. My first question was: Has it been 21 days since he has been back in

the U.S.?

Turns out it was exactly 21 days as of yesterday. And during this time he has been

taking his temperature several times a day (a high temperature is an early indicator of

infection) and there was no indication that h e had contracted the virus. In fact, he had

visited the CDC this week and was on Capitol Hill yesterday covering the

congressional hearings on CDC handling of Ebola.

If it were just about me, that would have been good enough, given what I had read

about the disease and how it is spread, and the fact that he had gone 21 days without

symptoms. However, I knew that might not be good enough for many others in our

community. And just yesterday, according to a report published i n the Washington

Post, new data now raises questions about whether or not 21 days is long enough to

rule out Ebola.

I have a responsibility to faculty, staff and most importantly, our students and their

parents. While I dont want to contri bute to the fears about the disease, I believed we

needed to exercise due caution. I also knew at least one student was already worriedabout his visit and that those concerns would quickly spread to other s tudents (and

then their parents), as well as staff and faculty. We did not want to create a panic.

The Newhouse Schoolin particular, associate professor Ken Harperhas long had a

connection to the people of Liberia. We have trained citizen journalists and provided

them with needed equipment; we spoke out on the imprisonment of FrontPage Africa

editor Rodney Sieh and helped to secure his release; and, most recently, Harper

8/10/2019 Statement From Dean Lorraine Branham Regarding the 2014 Fall Workshop

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created a website at the request of Liberian officials that tracks the spread of Ebola in

Liberia.

Ultimately, I felt it best to ask Mr. duCille not to come to the Fall Workshop. But I

decided to seek the advice of university officials before rescin ding our invitation since

I knew it would affect not only Newhouse but Syracuse University as well. Vice

Chancellor Spina concurred with the decision after talking with county health officials

and some local doctors. Everyone agrees that there was probably a very small risk to

our students. Still, our health experts suggested an abundance of caution and we

decided to take that advice. I was unwilling to take ANY risk where our students are

concerned.

As you can imagine, Mr . duCi ll e is no t happy wi th us an d he has made his anger and

unhappiness known to fellow journalists. The Vice Chancellor and I spent last night

fielding calls from the press and defending our decision. I hope thi s doesnt have an

adverse effect on the fall workshop. I feel badly about Mr. duCill e but I still think we

made the right decision. Meanwhile, I have invited Mr. duCille and his wife to visit us

in the near future to talk about his Liberia trip and our decision to rescind hisinvitation. I hope he does because I think it can be a teachable moment for our

students and an opportunity to hear his point of view. I know he worries that many

Amer icans are over ly fearful abou t the di sease and that SUs decis ion wi ll cont ri bu te

to those irrational fears. Journalism, we both agree, should shed light, and not

perpetuate ignorance. But this was NOT a journalism decision. Thi s was a student

decision. And I reject Mr. duCil les suggestion that our decision, made out of concern

for students, faculty and staff, diminishes us as a journalism scho ol. I know he is angry

and disappointed by the decision, and I know some of you may be as well. The period

of time he has been back was key for me. If it had been five or six weeks there would

have been no question about it. But given the many open questions about how the

disease is spread and how long the incubation lasts, I felt we had no choice but to askMr. duCille to visit us at a later time.