Gleason
accepts responsibility for workshop
The following is a letter written to School
of Journalism and Communication stu
dents, faculty and staff It will be posted to
day on the school's Website.
An advertising workshop led by Port
land-based advertising legend Dan
Wieden has been the subject of news re
ports and editorials recently. Now that
the workshop has concluded and the
assignments have been completed —
and with the perspective time provides
— I wanted to share with you the les
sons we have learned and how they will
shape the academic experience in the
future.
It is clear that some students found
themselves in a position that resulted in
behaviors that are inconsistent with the
__mission,
|CC—, ethics, values
I and vision of
COMMENTARY !heSd'°ol°f
_ lournahsm
and Com
munication and the University of Ore
gon. For that, I express my deepest re
gret and accept full responsibility.
Founded in 1916, the University's
School of Journalism and Communi
cation is one of the oldest schools of its
type in the country. From the beginning
we have been committed to the highest
ethical standards and excellence in
teaching. At the heart of the school's
mission is the welfare of its students. To
that end, the faculty will begin work im
mediately to examine existing policies
and, where necessary, outline new
guidelines intended to safeguard stu
dents against any assignments that
might lead them to actions inconsistent
with the ethics and vision of the school.
As we continue to innovate and, yes, to
take risks, we will be even more vigilant
in assuring that our coursework is
always conducted with the utmost in
tegrity.
The School of Journalism and Com
munication's relationship with Dan
Wieden will continue. He is an hon
ored alumnus who shares our commit
ment to ethical principles and to the
welfare of students. He has given un
selfishly of his time for the past 12 years
to run a student workshop that has
proved invaluable. It has led to tremen
dous learning and career opportunities
for many of the school's graduates. This
year, as in the past, student feedback on
the workshop was very positive. In the
future, the school will work with Dan
more carefully to ensure that all assign
ments in the workshop are consistent
with the school's policies and vision.
Ihe School of Journalism and Com
munication has a time-honored tradi
tion of being accountable to its students
and making its students accountable.
As dean, it is my intention to ensure
that we continue that tradition. We will
learn from this experience, grow from
it, and use it to improve the student
learning experience.
Tim Gleason is the dean of the School
of Journalism and Communication.
Nothing left to fear: The conclusion of Wieden
Dan Wieden paused for a moment
in his speech, as the professor said to
him, "Dan, this is Marissa." On Fri
day, June 4, I came face-to-face with
the "advertisingguru" whom I scold
ed in a previous column for the as
signments he gave in his workshop.
I wanted to slide under the table, pre
tending I'd dropped my pen, but I sat
in my chair, with hands clasped
tightly to the armrests, ready for
whatever was coming my way. It was
time to see how Mr. Wieden would
react to my column and the media
coverage surrounding my opinion.
It turned out that he reacted with
more maturity and compassion than
anyone I had spoken with in the past
three weeks. Several times he tried to
explain to me that no one in the
room was angry with me, and he re
spected what I had done. He asked
me to tell my story and all that 1 had
been through in the weeks following
the workshop. When I explained
how I felt attacked when the various
tasks kept being assigned to me, one
of the men who had been at the
workshop nodded in understanding.
Throughout the day, Mr. Wieden
did his best to make sure I felt
comfortable, sitting with me at
lunch, talking to me about my con
cerns and complimenting me on my
writing. In truth, I felt more comfort
able that day at Wieden + Kennedy
than I've felt in Allen Hall recently.
Although Mr. Wieden said no one
was angry with me, it certainly didn't
feel that way. One of my former pro
fessors and the dean wouldn't even
look at me. In the students' videos,
they took shots at my newspaper and
my viewpoint on the workshop.
One student's video placed a pic
ture of Dan Wieden on the screen
with the caption "This is God," fol
lowed by a picture of the agency's in
terior with the caption "This is heav
en." Then words appeared on the
screen about how Dan Wieden was
an upstanding citizen, helping inner
city children. He concluded his trib
ute with a comment about how the
real tragedy of all of this was that
when you type Dan Wieden's name
into Google, the fourth thing to ap
pear was some garbage about this
workshop. It hurts to have your ef
forts to stand up for students
deemed garbage, but to each his
own.
Marissa Jones
Cry me a river
After the video we took a break. 1
quickly rushed out of the building
for some fresh air. As 1 crossed the
street, tears began to roll down my
cheeks. 1 was strong, but not invinci
ble. 1 heard someone call my name,
and as I turned around, 1 found Dan
Wieden running out of the building
after me. He asked if 1 was all right,
showing his concern for me. Some
how I managed to form a smile, as
my broken voice said, "I'm fine. It
just gets really wearing sitting there
being attacked." He patted me on my
shoulder as I cried.
It took a long six hours until we
finished everything in the workshop.
The videos had turned out like I had
thought. I never denied that watch
ing a student go out on a date with a
blow-up doll would be funny. I just
never saw the point. Some of the stu
dents had been kicked out of stores
or restaurants, while one talked
about feeling bad for deceiving peo
ple who had been so nice. A few stu
dents decided to bypass the specific
directions given to them in the work
shop, saying it was just mean and
that they wouldn't follow them.
1 he time had come for my presen
tation, which was a collection of
quotes and stories from the articles
on fear given to us along with a book
on Andy Kaufman. 1 could hear the
weakness in my voice, as it fluctuat
ed between my deep breaths. But as
1 reached the third slide, which had a
quote about fearing disconnection
from your peers by being different,
my voice disappeared. The tension
was too strong for me fight, as I be
gan to cry. There are very few times I
can remember letting others see me
cry, and here I sat in front of fourteen
peers, Dan Wieden, two men from
the agency, a professor and the dean.
It was then that for the first time,
someone associated with the work
shop stood up for me. As I stared at
the words blurred by my tears, Dan
Wieden spoke, telling me to keep go
ing and that 1 was absolutely right.
In the past weeks, 1 had been told I
wasn't creative enough and that Dan
Wieden was great. I was asked,
'What the hell are you doing?"
Someone else said that my column
might cause Dan Wieden to cancel
the workshop in the future. A profes
sor even told me that some of his
friends would have thought it was
funny if someone objected at their
wedding. The point was that / didn't
think it was funny, and that there was
nothing wrong with my viewpoint.
In fact, a lot of people outside the
workshop agreed with me. Instead of
validating my concerns, everyone as
sociated with the workshop attacked
me, except for the man whom they
all feared l offended.
After 1 finished my presentation, a
student came up to me and said that
if the workshop was about fear and
courage, what I had done took more
courage than any of the other tasks. 1
slipped out of the room, as my peers
said goodbye and congratulated me.
Turn to JONES, page 4A
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