Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s medical school says an investigation will be launched into all of its past yearbooks.
The president of Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk announced the investigation on the school’s website late Saturday.
Dr. Richard V. Homan said he will direct an external investigation by a “panel of advocates for diversity and inclusion.” It will include African Americans and other people of color.
The announcement follows Friday’s revelation that a photo on Northam’s 1984 profile page features someone in blackface and someone in KKK robes. The image has led to a torrent of calls for his resignation.
The probe will determine the yearbook publishing process and the extent of administrative oversight. It will also examine the campus culture
Read Homan’s full statement below:
A statement from President Richard V. Homan, MD, on Feb. 2, 2019 at 8:15 p.m.
In concert with our Board of Visitors’ leadership, I will direct that an external investigation be conducted as soon as possible to review all of our past yearbooks, determine the processes for publishing those yearbooks; discover what, if any, administrative oversight was exercised; examine our campus culture; and provide recommendations for future actions.
We will move quickly to assemble an appropriate panel to conduct this investigation — a panel of advocates for diversity and inclusion representative of our greater community, including African Americans and other people of color; a diverse panel that can apply a critical eye to this issue.
We commit to transparency and moving the investigation forward as quickly as possible.
Maybe they can start by finding out how in the hell it’s possible that a yearbook with a picture like that in it came out without a single student, faculty member of administrator thinking it worthy of note.
I mean, WTF? I was in school then. In Kentucky, FFS. And I can assure you that had any four year college, graduate program or professional degree program in the entire fucking state come out with a picture like that in it in 1984, there would have been student protests, faculty senate resolutions, board of governor phone calls to the president, threats from donors, and, ultimately, the holy hell administrators unleash even on rich white boys when they have embarrassed the school.
Because though I can’t get people born after then to believe it, and Reagan notwithstanding, the country was, in many ways, still a lot more liberal then. The WWII vet boomers who voted for Kennedy along with the ones who just said they did, were in the ones holding offices and positions. The yuppies, veterans of the Civil Rights movement, student protests, the kind who voted for Bobby or got Clean for Gene were in their prime. College students were definitely more conservative than they had been, but among those who weren’t Apartheid and college divestment from South Africa was the cause dearest to our lefty little hearts.
Rush Limbaugh was just a local talk radio jock in Sacremento (holding down Morton Downy’ Jr’s old gig) because Reagan had not het gutted FCC regulations who had not yet slithered onto the airwaves of the entire nation and renormalized and validated bigotry and vileness under the guise of “humor.” It was a time when white conservatives were eager to engage in virtue signalling by joining Democrats (rather than just point scoring) when a clearcut, easy target like this presented itself.
And so, I must confess I am baffled by how this wasn’t a big deal, in real time. Yes, Virginia’s brand of racism (and, in some ways still is) one of the hardest, meanest kinds of racism in America once you got outside Alexandria, but even it was electing black governors. I just don’t fucking get it.
Launching a probe would’ve been a great idea — 35 years ago!
Looks like Trump is not the only one in the altering reality business…from an apology to confusing excuses to…
The Phone Call
This is supposed to give this man additional time so that the news cycles wipe the issue off the map.
“I will give a definitive statement when the probe is completed.”
Bullshit.
Waiting for repubs including McCarthy, McDaniel and VA GOP chair Wilson to call out a chief executive for his appalling insensitivity on race. Yes, Northam brought this on himself, but the hypocrisy of the Rs is enough to choke on.
Do you mean the 1987 Eastern Virginia Medical School pageant for “Pickanny Of The Year” didn’t offer a clue to you, Dr. Homan?