EDITORIAL – Communication department needs monitoring

The resignation of the last two active female professors with tenure in Pitt’s communication… The resignation of the last two active female professors with tenure in Pitt’s communication department this August is a strong indicator that progress has yet to be made from the reports cited in The Pitt News in April 2004 of the department’s hostile work environment.

Some specific problems initially mentioned in the report, which was a review of the department conducted by three accredited professors, were: the alarming number of sexual relationships between professors and graduate students, the apparent unwillingness to promote diversity as seen in the low acceptance rates of minority students to the graduate school and alleged preferential treatment given to men.

One can only speculate what could very well be the current state of the communication department. With the constant pressure on graduate students to stay silent because of their dependency on professors for recommendations and other promotions, it’s no surprise that most people within the department will not expose the culprits.

Even with the testimonies of current discrimination against women that are continuously revealed with each resignation, the University hasn’t yielded an adequate response to address the problem.

An article released in the Pittsburgh City Paper this week titled “Communication Breakdown” brings to light the overall sentiments from former faculty. Robin Means Coleman and Carol Stabile, the two tenured professors that recently left, were forthcoming that their departure was because of their “treatment in the department.”

Testimonies cited in the aforementioned article from former visiting assistant communication professor Julie Thompson further support the allegations. She maintains that a departmental colleague – in exchange for a finalist spot for a position – propositioned her for sex.

And while consenting relationships with adults that coincidentally function in two separate sectors of the University is one thing, it seems that in the case of the communication department there is a conflict of interest. What’s worse is that those who report people in these situations, for the betterment of the department, are regarded as whistle blowers and are ostracized even more than they already were.

One would think that the resignation of John Lyne, the former department chair, would’ve helped the state of things. But the truth is this did not solve the problem, and the fact that they still have an interim chair isn’t exactly a good sign either. Changing the top doesn’t always change an organization.

The University is doing its students a disservice by not addressing this problem head-on. It’s a shame that valued faculty had to leave. Coleman was the only teacher who taught African-Americans in the Mass Media, and Pitt students will no longer be able to benefit from her lessons because of an intolerable work environment.

But this is what happens when you attend a university that’s asleep at the wheel when their communication department could possibly be rampant with sex scandals and discrimination. Pitt needs to tightly monitor the communication department in the efforts to maintain the academic integrity that our university claims to have.