The University's public affairs office plans to adopt a more "proactive approach" to public relations this year, according to recently hired Vice President for Public Affairs and University Relations Michael Chapman.
Chapman takes over for Assistant Vice President Melanie Coon, who served an interim role in the position last year.
Chapman was hired away from New York University's Medical Center, where he served as director of communications.
"I have long been aware of Brown University's role in higher education in this country," Chapman said. "I found it to be a very interesting place for me to be in my career."
He also cited as job incentives the opportunity to work with President Ruth Simmons and support the University's Plan for Academic Enrichment.
In the future, Chapman said he wants to be "as proactive as possible in getting the word out about a lot of things happening on campus."
These developments include the hiring of new faculty that will "add to Brown's tradition of academia," he said.
On a local level, Chapman said he anticipates public relations issues that are the result of construction projects. He said he aims to "make sure the University can proceed with its plans for growth."
Other goals for the Public Affairs and University Relations office include improving the University's Web site, deepening relationships with the local community and government, and advancing the University's agenda in Washington, D.C., Chapman said.
The public affairs office has been without a director of community and government relations since Aug. 1, 2003, when Marisa Quinn left that position to become Simmons' assistant.
Another goal for Chapman is to work with student leadership to promote stories about Brown students' academic efforts and work in the Providence community.
Chapman's newly stated emphasis on proactive public relations comes after a year marked by what some administrators called misleading coverage on several significant stories related to the University.
The University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice faced misleading representation in the media after its launch last year, according to committee chairman and Associate Professor of History James Campbell.
The committee garnered the most media coverage for the University last year.
The University chose to grant the story exclusively to the New York Times, which broke the story on March 13. That article "gave a kind of impression ... that this was an exercise in monetary reparations," Campbell said.
That impression "simply isn't true," he said.
When other news outlets attempted to contact the University for information regarding the committee, the University declined to comment.
Two days after the Times article, the Providence Journal followed with a story that offered "no comment" from the University.
Campbell said he does not believe the University committed a public relations blunder in its handling of the committee's coverage. Rather, he said, the "inflammatory" nature of the committee's subject matter may have caused the national media to misrepresent its efforts.
"In recent years the question of reparations has been reduced to the narrow issue of monetary reparations," Campbell said. "It was predictable that some people would immediately rush to the conclusion that this was a discussion of monetary reparations."
Campbell defended the University's decision to release the story as an exclusive through the Times.
"It seems to make sense to introduce the story in the national media ... and try to get a full and thoughtful discussion of what we're trying to do," he said.
Campbell added that it is important for the committee's work to be open to the public.
"The last thing you want to do is give the impression that something secretive is going on," he said.
When asked whether he would have handled the announcement of the committee in a different manner, Chapman said he is "not in a position to question the judgment that people made. You have to make judgment calls, and you can't make everybody happy all the time."
Chapman added that there were some benefits to the University's strategy.
"The approach that was taken certainly allowed a lot of media attention to come to the Committee's work," he said.
News Service Director Mark Nickel, who handled dealings with the press last year, said he also would not second-guess the University's decision.
Chapman said he views public relations issues as "less of a challenge and more of an opportunity" to better the University's public image.
"There's always going to be controversies at a university," he said.
He added that he believes Coon "did a terrific job" as interim vice president. "The whole staff has been valuable to me in helping me understand the University," he said.
Chapman's predecessor, Laura Freid, this summer became the chief executive officer and executive director of the Silk Road Project, a musical ensemble founded by cellist Yo-Yo Ma.
Herald senior staff writer Robbie Corey-Boulet '07 can be reached at herald@browndailyherald.com.
