If you read the national news over the past month, you might get the impression that Duke University is the kind of place where terrorists regularly come to speak, surgeons fail to adequately check vital data, and proud, beaming parents buy their child's way into the student body.
Suffice it to say, it's been a tough month for the University's image.
"The last few weeks have been a prime time for national exposure, and for all of us who are involved, this does indeed mean more time responding to reporter's inquiries, concerned alums, and interested observers," President Nan Keohane wrote in an e-mail.
A front-page story in The New York Times this week highlighted Duke University Hospital's error in transplanting a heart and lungs of the wrong blood type into a teenage girl, and news about Jesica Santillan's condition became one of the top national stories this week. A Thursday article in The Wall Street Journal examined Duke's aggressive practice of admitting students to attract money from donors. Meanwhile, Duke took a hit from several editorial pages and news shows earlier this semester when a visiting professor invited convicted U.S. Capitol bomber Laura Whitehorn to speak to her students.
Although the University is used to receiving favorable press for innovative research and its top academic reputation, the negative coverage has combined to give Duke a significant public affairs black eye. The situation is complicated by the fact that John Burness, senior vice president for public affairs and government relations, as well as the University's uber-spin-doctor since 1991, has taken a leave of absence this semester.
In the meantime, David Jarmul, associate vice president for news and communications and director of Duke News Service, has taken on many of Burness's duties. He said he worked 16 hours Wednesday in advance of The Wall Street Journal article, helping out the Medical Center News Office and working to coordinate bonfire coverage for local news broadcasters after the men's basketball game against Maryland.
"I hope John is thoroughly enjoying his time off," said Jarmul, adding that he has not consulted much with Burness. "I think it's really important for John to have this time off and it's important for him to have some time to think and get away."
Keohane did not think the recent coverage would cast a permanent shadow on Duke.
"I am confident that Duke's reputation is strong and resilient enough to survive a set of negative stories, as indeed it has periodically many times in the past," she wrote.
Jarmul added that his office has always tried to be open and honest in dealing with challenging national coverage.
"It's always hard to tell when you're in the middle of it, [but] if you handle it badly, it can have a lasting impact," Jarmul said. "I think the way the Hospital's handled the transplant story, for instance, of so openly discussing that an error was made, is central to Duke maintaining its world-class reputation."
When the error became public Monday, the Hospital released a statement that night and has worked with reporters ever since.
Mack Mahoney, the benefactor who paid for Santillan's operation and went to the media following the mishandled transplant, has charged that Duke's officials tried to keep him from making the error public and that they actively discouraged and even intimidated him.
When asked whether Hospital officials had in fact tried to keep Mahoney from talking to the media, however, Medical Center spokesperson Richard Puff did not answer and asked to go on to the next question.
"Really, the institution's primary thoughts here have been with Jesica and taking care of her and her family and that is the paramount thing people keep in their minds. That's really the most important thing here," Puff said later.
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