Comment Crisis

Letter to the Editor

On Fri., Apr. 14, the Herald published an article ("Blue Shield: Public Affairs weathers the storm") about the Office of Public Affairs (OPA). The article refers, among other things, to the debate as to whether Thomas Conroy, the deputy director of the OPA, said in regard to the murder of [former Davenport senior] Suzanne Jovin that "bringing more attention to the murder can only hurt Yale...[that] they want to put the murder behind them, that it is time to move on" as reported by ABC's 20/20 on Wed., Mar. 1.

In a letter to the Yale Daily News (YDN) on Wed., Mar. 29, Conroy said, "I did not make the comments that 20/20 attributed to a Yale spokesman." In a letter to the YDN on Thurs., Mar. 30, Tom and Donna Jovin said they had informed Linda Lorimer, Yale's vice president and secretary, in late January that Conroy had told ABC that Yale was trying to put the murder behind it. In the same issue, the YDN reported that after receiving the e-mail from Tom Jovin, Lorimer checked with OPA officers, who denied that the statements had ever been made. Now, a week after University President Richard Levin, GRD '74, expressed regret for any offense the comments may have given to the Jovins or others [YDN, 4/6/00], Lawrence Haas, the OPA's director, has given his unequivocal support to Conroy's denial. He was quoted in the Herald as saying, in regard to the controversy, "I'm not laying awake at night worrying about this...I stand by Conroy 1,000 percent."

Conroy may not in fact have made the comments, although, as the Herald noted, ABC continues to defend the accuracy of its report. But if ABC does at some point present evidence, such as contemporaneous notes on its conversations with Conroy, that the comments were made, I believe the OPA officers who denied to Linda Lorimer and any other officers of Yale in January or on other occasions that the comments were made should be asked to resign.

—David R. Cameron professor of political science

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