This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon: Dear Beaconites --
Typically, the fate of an interim dean at Saint Louis University would be of little interest to anyone beyond the campus. But these are not typical times for SLU, and Tom Keefe is not your typical law school dean. As a result, events that might have played out as a quiet kerfuffle turned into a public circus this week.
Behind the story of Keefe's departure lies an interesting backstory worth sharing here for what it reveals about the inner workings of academia and journalism.
Let's begin at the end, with Beacon education reporter Dale Singer's wide-ranging post-resignation interview with Keefe. A Metro East trial lawyer and SLU board member, Keefe told Dale he resigned as interim dean so the school could move forward under its new dean, Michael Wolff. Keefe acknowledged making ill-considered and politically incorrect remarks to students and faculty. But he bristled at the idea that his comments amounted to sexual harassment.
Dale's story contained two unusual sections. One was a quote from Keefe, who summed up his outlook with this metaphor: “Life’s a bitch. If it was easy, they would call it a slut.” As much as anything, that demonstrated Keefe's style and why, by his own account, his sojourn in academia has been less than smooth.
The second unusual section was Dale's candid description of his efforts to check out the initial tip that Keefe was being investigated for sexual harassment. Dale wrote:
“The Beacon tried without success through the weekend and during the day Monday to pin down the precise remarks, but the process ended up like a game of telephone. It was difficult to determine if specific examples were being reported by different sources, or if the same information was making the rounds and being modified by each person who repeated it.
“At one point, a professor gave the Beacon the names of people who reportedly had made allegations against Keefe, but when those people were contacted, they said they had never made such complaints.”
Traditionally, reporters refrain from telling readers about the difficulties they encounter and the information that doesn't pan out. The reporter is not the story, the adage goes. But in this case, Dale's account filled out the picture of a campus roiled by rumors and added important context.
The controversy over Keefe comes against the backdrop of a larger confrontation over the leadership of SLU's president, Father Lawrence Biondi. During recent months, Dale has reported on both. He understands the sensitive nature of the situation and the special importance of checking facts rather than spreading rumors.
But paradoxically, Dale's efforts to check facts in this case led to problems. He called Keefe to check out the tip that officials were meeting to discuss allegations against him. Keefe said he knew nothing. As Keefe later explained, he concluded that Dale was spreading bad information. On Monday, he stopped talking to Dale. Nor would the SLU public information office return calls -- a pattern of behavior that has been repeated but never explained.
In fact, Dale and the Beacon were quite deliberately not spreading bad information. We were waiting to publish until we could verify what was going on. Meanwhile, in the information vacuum, unconfirmed reports spread that Keefe had been fired. Eventually, Keefe himself surfaced in televised interviews to say he had resigned. At that point, the Beacon published what we knew, adding more information as it became available.
Journalists are naturally competitive, and we know our readers want to be informed as quickly as possible. But getting things right is more important than getting them first. In this case, choosing credibility over speed cost the Beacon a scoop. Sometimes, that's the price of maintaining your trust. In the end, that trust is the most valuable asset any news organization can possess, and the Beacon worked hard to earn it this week.
Sincerely,
Margie