To add your name publicly to this open letter, please send an email to journalism@umd.edu, with the subject line "open letter signature" and include your name, title, and affiliation.

As faculty and leadership at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, we offer our strong support for the work of journalism professor and administrator Dr. Kathleen McElroy. We also endorse the principles of diversity and inclusion in journalism, acknowledge the responsibility of journalists to investigate the problems of diverse communities, and recognize the need for educators who teach their students about the importance of such reporting.

Dr. McElroy is exceptionally well-qualified to lead a journalism program at a prominent institution. Her résumé includes a distinguished 20-year career with a national newspaper of record, a Ph.D. from a top research university, previous experience leading a journalism program, and the respect and admiration of her peers.

We understand that Dr. McElroy was offered a tenured contract to revive the journalism program at Texas A&M University, her alma mater, but this was soon reduced to a one-year untenured position. For Texas A&M to downgrade the terms of a job offer that it extended to her after objections were raised to her commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion is disrespectful, contrary to the principle of academic freedom, and represents a loss to her alma mater, students and journalism.

All Americans should be concerned by the concerted effort in this country to portray colleges and universities, and their faculty and staff, who want equality for everyone as un-American. Equal opportunity and inclusion are fundamental values that Americans have always fought for, in pursuit of a healthier democracy.

Journalism programs have the moral obligation to train the next generation of journalists how to be honorable and ethical practitioners in an increasingly diverse society. To do this, we must embrace and empower faculty, students and staff who represent many kinds of diversity, rather than push them away to satisfy elements within our society who implacably oppose an inclusive vision of American democracy. This is why we condemn racial and gender discrimination, and other attitudes and actions that are inconsistent with principles of fairness and inclusion. We call on like-minded educators and practitioners to join us in reaffirming and defending these values.

Signatories from the Philip Merrill College of Journalism

Rafael Lorente, Dean

Christoph Mergerson, Assistant Professor 

Sarah Oates, Professor and Distinguished Scholar-Teacher  

Adam Marton, Lecturer 

Rob Wells, Associate Professor 

Karen Denny, Senior Lecturer 

Krishnan Vasudevan, Associate Professor 

Alexander Pyles, Lecturer 

Alison Burns, Lecturer  

Jerry Zremski, Lecturer 

Timothy Jacobsen, Lecturer 

Susan Moeller, Professor 

Derek Willis, Lecturer 

Mark Hyman, Director, Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism and Professor of the Practice 

James R. Carroll, Senior Lecturer

Linda Steiner, Professor

Chris Harvey, Principal Lecturer 

Christopher Hanson, Associate Professor

Martin Kaiser, Managing Director, Capital News Service

Tom Rosenstiel, Eleanor Merrill Visiting Professor on the Future of Journalism

Sean Mussenden, Principal Lecturer

Kevin Blackistone, Professor of the Practice  

Ronald Yaros, Associate Professor

Ira Chinoy, Associate Professor

Deborah Nelson, Professor

Tom Davidson, Adjunct Lecturer

Josh Davidsburg, Senior Lecturer

Naeemul Hassan, Assistant Professor

Rona Kobell, Adjunct Lecturer

Kathy Best, Director, Howard Center for Investigative Journalism

Tom Bettag, Lecturer

Dana Priest, Professor, Knight Chair in Public Affairs Journalism and Washington Post reporter

Anne Farris Rosen, Adjunct Lecturer

Mark Feldstein, Professor, Richard Eaton Chair of Broadcast Journalism

Lucy A. Dalglish, J.D., Professor

Additional Signatories

Paula M. Poindexter, Ph.D., Professor, School of Journalism and Media, The University of Texas at Austin

Lisa Hooper, Head of Media Services, Tulane University

Aaron Shapiro, Assistant Professor of Technology Studies, Department of Communication, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Daniel Kreiss, Founding Principal Investigator, Center for Information, Technology, and Public Life, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Kathy Roberts Forde, Professor of Journalism, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Laura Castañeda, Ed.D., Professor of Professional Practice, Associate Dean, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Access, USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism

Barbara Hines, Professor Emerita, Howard University

Carrie Brown, Associate Professor, Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, CUNY

Steve Fox, Senior Lecturer II, Journalism Department, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Kim Fox, Professor, The American University in Cairo

Rosemary Pennington, Area Coordinator & Associate Professor of Journalism, Miami University, Ohio

Guy Harrison, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Masudul Biswas, Chair and Professor, Department of Communication, Loyola University Maryland

Tracy Everbach, Professor, Mayborn School of Journalism, University of North Texas

Nour Halabi, University of Aberdeen

Dr. Paromita Pain, Associate Professor, Reynolds School of Journalism, The University of Nevada, Reno

Julie Burton, President & CEO, Women’s Media Center

Mark A. Poepsel, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Mass Communication, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

Julianne H. Newton, Professor, University of Oregon

Thomas Gardner, MPA, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Communication, Westfield State University

Jack L. Harris, Visiting Assistant Professor of Communication, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Dr. Pallavi Guha, Assistant Professor of Journalism, Towson University

Mia Moody-Ramirez, Ph.D., Professor & Chair, Journalism, Public Relations & New Media, Baylor University

Susan Keith, Professor, School of Communication and Information, Rutgers University

Katrina Struloeff, Ph.D.

Carolina Velloso, Ph.D., President's Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Minnesota

Erika Engstrom, Ph.D., Director and Professor, School of Journalism and Media, University of Kentucky

Kathryn Montalbano, Assistant Professor, School of Journalism and Media, University of Kentucky

Lynn Schofield Clark, Professor and Director, Estlow International Center for Journalism and New Media, University of Denver

Al Cross, Director, Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, and Extension Professor, School of Journalism and Media, University of Kentucky

Jane Marcellus, Former Professor, Middle Tennessee State University

Tracy Lucht, Associate Professor, Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication, Iowa State University

Carolyn Nielsen, Professor, Western Washington University, and Vice Head, AEJMC Commission on the Status of Women

Cecil T. Thompson, parent of a student at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism, University of Maryland

Damon Kiesow, Knight Chair in Journalism Innovation, University of Missouri School of Journalism

Marina Hendricks, Head, AEJMC Scholastic Journalism Division

Robin Sundaramoorthy, Instructor, Philip Merrill College of Journalism, University of Maryland

Alan Goldenbach, Associate Professor of Journalism, Hood College

Adrianne Flynn, Retired Senior Lecturer, editor and career adviser

Barbara Friedman, Associate Professor, Hussman School of Journalism and Media, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Deb Aikat, Associate Professor, Hussman School of Journalism and Media, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and 2022-23 President of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication