The Washington Journalism Program remains canceled for the fall semester, despite an attempt by College of Communication Dean Tom Fiedler to get International Programs to reconsider its Monday decision.
Fiedler said in a telephone interview that IP Executive Director Philippe Pavillard had been working Tuesday morning to see if there was a way to “make the numbers work” and keep the program running with a small number of students, but was unsuccessful.
In an interview on Monday, Fiedler said that because Pavillard was not present at an IP administration group meeting when the decision was made Monday morning, it was possible that IP didn’t know COM was working to restructure the program to accommodate fewer students.
In an afternoon conference call that included Pavillard, Fiedler and Washington Internship Program Director Nick Mills, the speculation over whether the program would resume in the fall was put to rest.
“Following our conversation, we agreed that the low enrollment for the fall semester forces us to put the Washington Journalism Program on hold for another semester,” Pavillard said in an email.
Mills said there seemed to be a “lack of coordination” between IP and COM about the fate of the program, but said in a telephone interview he was not entirely surprised by the decision because he knew the program was struggling to attract students this semester.
Mills was one of the many COM faculty members dismayed by the news.
“The Washington Journalism Program is one of the jewels in the crown and without it, we’re too much like other journalism programs,” he said.
Elizabeth Mehren, a COM journalism professor and long-time D.C. correspondent, said she was a big proponent of the program because of how valuable it was to young journalists.
“It provided an enormous amount of opportunity and it allowed students to have the same access to Washington as veteran professional journalists,” she said in a telephone interview. “I think the demise of the Washington program is very sad.”
“I’m disappointed that there will not be a program in the fall,” said Journalism Department Chair Lou Ureneck. “It is a first-rate experience for students and unique among journalism programs nationwide.”
Fiedler and Mills asserted that the program would return for the spring of 2011, but Fiedler said canceling the program in the fall will hurt recruitment.
“It’s not good,” he said. “Any program depends on there being a real sense of continuity about it, a sense of excitement.”
COM senior Aviva Gat is currently part of COM’s Statehouse Program. One reason she didn’t consider the Washington Journalism Program was because of location.
“I already studied abroad in Sydney, and I wanted to spend my last semester of college here in Boston,” she said in an email.
Gat also said she thinks it is easier to form relationships with state legislators than U.S. Congressmen, which she said is another advantage of the Statehouse Program.
“Most of the state reps and senators in the area that my paper covers have given me their cell phone numbers and know me on a first name basis,” she said. “I have heard that doesn’t happen in D.C.”
On the other hand, Jessica Leving, also a COM senior, said in a telephone interview that she chose D.C. over the Statehouse Program last fall because she wanted to be in the nation’s capitol.
“I got to see [President Barack] Obama speak and I got to go to a conference with [White House Chief of Staff] Rahm Emanuel, so you get access to your representatives and senators that you definitely wouldn’t get as a rookie reporter or student,” she said.
Alyssa Moni is a COM freshman planning to major in journalism and minor in political science. She said she was excited about the WJP during her college search.
“It was part of the reason I came to [Boston University]. It was between schools in D.C., like American [University], and here so I thought the program would be the best of both worlds,” she said. “I really hope it continues because I’m looking forward to doing it next year.”
Staff writer Saba Hamedy contributed reporting to this article
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