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Pharmacology must release survey results

During the past several years, the University's medical school departments have been fraught with racial tensions. The medical school's survey, completed earlier this year, revealed chronic inequalities and inadequate representation of minorities. Similar findings may arise from a recently conducted survey in the Department of Pharmacology. Though problems of racism are strongly suspected, the University community remains uninformed because the pharmacology department has not yet released the actual results of the survey, despite repeated requests under the Freedom of Information Act.

Dr. Peggie Hollingsworth, a pharmacology research faculty member, filed the initial grievance against the Department of Pharmacology earlier this year. She cited departmental racial hostility as the reason for unfair performance evaluations, resulting in promotion refusal. The department ordered a survey in response to the grievance, but failed to release the actual survey results Ñ the only information the department released was in the form of a Òcommittee report.Ó The report concluded that Òthe environment within the Department of Pharmacology is acknowledged, by all accounts, to be one of tension, anxiety, one-to-one confrontation, and hostility. It is acknowledged that offensive incidents and experiences have occurred, as well as some highly contentious interactions concerning the role of race in admissions and promotions. Nonetheless, the committee did not find evidence that the environment in the Department was racially hostile."
The department's "committee report" and the actual results of the survey may be very different. Dr. Thomas Landefeld, a pharmacology professor, filed the initial request for the survey information under the FOIA. The department failed to comply, providing instead its committee's vague report. The FOIA request specifically demands the actual survey results - not the pharmacology department's version of the survey results. Although concrete statements are impossible, the department's disobedience seems to strengthen suspicions of racism. Allegations of racism are not new to the department of pharmacology. In 1994, Landefeld accused Dr. William Pratt - also a pharmacology professor - of racial insensitivity. This year, the department chose to honor Pratt in the Distinguished Faculty Lectureship in Biomedical Research - a poor choice that looks worse in light of the recent survey concealment.

The pharmacology department must stop stalling and comply with Landefeld's FOIA request. Department administrators must realize that survey studies are meant to identify problems as a first step toward corrective action. The University community is concerned about racism, and it has a right to the survey results - positive or negative. Pharmacology's purpose in conducting the survey was not to produce a glowing report, nor a reassuring or comforting one - the department has a responsibility to report the truth.

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