Update, 3/20/11
Almost 200 people have signed an online petition “requesting a public explanation of the facts surrounding the apparent removal of Professor Protess as Medill’s Investigative Journalism professor for this spring.”
The petition, directed at University President Morton Schapiro and Medill Dean John Lavine, was started by alumni of the course and the Medill Innocence Project. It was signed by 194 people as of Saturday evening.
The petition says the University’s decision “raises many unanswered questions.” It is very similar to a petition signed earlier in the week by the eight students enrolled in the Spring Quarter Investigative Journalism course. Both petitions focus on the removal of Protess and do not detail any concerns with the newly-appointed professor, Alec Klein.
Medill senior Jared Hoffman, who started the original petition, said he has complete faith in Klein but is concerned about what the University’s decision means for the future of the Innocence Project.
Klein, a former investigative business reporter at The Washington Post and best-selling author, taught the class in the fall when Protess was on sabbatical. In their course evaluations, the students in that class gave Klein 5.25 out of 6.0 in “overall rating of instruction.”
“This course is the most amazing experience I have ever had at Northwestern,” one student wrote in the anonymous evaluations.
Update, 3/19/11
Robert Stephenson, a Chicago attorney who represents the two inmates that the Investigative Journalism course has spent the past several months attempting to free, has asked his clients not to participate with the class in the spring, according to an e-mail obtained by The Daily.
In the e-mail, sent from Stephenson to Medill senior Jared Hoffman, one of the students in the class, the attorney says he and his partner do not have the “same level of comfort in providing access to our clients under the tutelage of your new professor.”
As reported by The Daily on Friday, Stephenson also represents former Investigative Journalism professor David Protess in his defense against a subpoena of Innocence Project student records related to the Medill Innocence Project’s investigation of Anthony McKinney. Stephenson has represented Protess since October.
Stephenson could not be immediately reached for comment Saturday.
Protess has reportedly asked Stephenson to reconsider his decision, according to another e-mail provided to The Daily.
The spring class, which will be taught in the by third-year Medill Prof. Alec Klein, still plans to focus on wrongful convictions, according to a Medill source familiar with the matter. But Stephenson’s decision leaves the structure of that focus unclear.
Original story, 3/18/11
A Northwestern University spokesman and high-profile Medill School of Journalism Prof. David Protess publicly feuded Friday, a day after The Daily reported that the University decided to replace Protess as professor of its investigative journalism class in the spring amid allegations of ethical misconduct.
The spokesman, Al Cubbage, and Protess, a 29-year professor who also serves as director of the Medill Innocence Project, each released statements about the course, in which students have historically worked closely with the Innocence Project to investigate cases with significant evidence of wrongful conviction.
The Innocence Project has freed 12 men from prison, including five from death row. But it has come under fire recently trying to the free a 13th, Anthony McKinney. Prosecutors in that case have accused students of violating the law during its three-year investigation of the case and subpoenaed thousands of documents in an attempt to prove misconduct.
Protess has refused to comply with the subpoena but NU attorneys, after initially fighting the subpoena, have turned over hundreds of documents and are currently reviewing thousands more to be handed over.
The longtime professor was informed of the change for the spring by Medill Dean John Lavine earlier this week, he said. No reason for the decision has been given, and Protess said he still hasn’t talked to any administrators about the future.
Lavine was unavailable for comment Friday, while the new professor of the class, Alec Klein, declined to comment.
Protess will continue as director of the Innocence Project. But his removal as professor in the spring leaves the next step for the class and the project unclear. The new class will continue to focus on wrongful conviction, according to a Medill source familiar with the matter.
But the attorney representing the two clients that the class is currently focusing on is also representing Protess in the McKinney case and said Friday he doesn’t know if he would be working with the class under a new professor.
“We would have to re-evaluate that position and find out if we would have a positive working relationship with the professor that takes his place,” said the attorney, Robert Stephenson.”
In his statement, Cubbage, the University spokesman, did not directly address the professor change. Instead, he described the current situation of the McKinney case and the University’s continuing “review” of “Professor Protess and the actions and practices of the Innocence Project.”
“The work of Professor Protess and the Medill Innocence Project has gained national recognition and brought credit to Northwestern and Medill. More importantly, that work has helped free wrongfully convicted individuals from prison. However, the laudable goal of the Innocence Project would not justify any improper actions that may have been taken by Professor Protess,” the statement concluded.
In an e-mail response sent to The Daily, Protess strongly rebuked Cubbage’s statement.
“The primary ‘improper action’ in this case was the failure of the university’s lawyers to promptly image our computers to find out whose memory about the documents was accurate,” wrote Protess, referring to the disconnect between the two entities’ responses to the subpoena. “It is apparently easier to cast blame elsewhere than to accept responsibility for mistakes that we both share.”
Protess also wrote that it was “outrageous that the university’s spokesperson continues to comment on a personnel matter.” In an interview, Cubbage responded by simply saying “the media inquired and the University responded to the inquiry.”
Friday was not the first time that Protess and Cubbage have feuded in the media. In January, the two gave starkly different accounts of how many student documents Protess had shared with University attorneys attempting to respond to the subpoena.
“With all due respect, Al Cubbage doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” said Protess, who has also accused NU of unleashing a “war” on the Innocence Project by hiring three attorneys, all of whom are former prosecutors, to represent them.
Students enrolled in Investigative Journalism for the spring took the side of Protess in interviews Friday.
“It’s clear that the needs of the students aren’t always priority number one. Medill will do what it needs to do first, then it will get around to taking care of its students. If that weren’t true, Mr. Protess would be teaching,” said Medill senior Jared Hoffman, who organized a petition asking the University to reconsider the professor change.
The petition, signed by all eight students and sent to Medill Senior Director of Undergraduate Education Michele Bitoun on Thursday, expressed “deep disappointment” with the decision and students threatened to drop the class if the University does not change its mind.
Bitoun declined to comment beyond confirming she received the petition. Bitoun also said that as a matter of Medill policy, professor changes can be made at any time.
Protess expressed optimism but uncertainty about his future with the University.
“I still hope to be back in the spring, or in the fall, but if not I will treasure the thirty years I have taught at Medill and will remain loyal to the purple and white,” he wrote in an e-mail to the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.
