Responding to the controversy over his use of anonymous quotes in the Medill alumni magazine, Medill Dean John Lavine said in a Wednesday evening e-mail that he made a “mistake” and that he should have set a better standard for the Medill community.

“Medill faculty teach our students that journalism should be transparent,” said his e-mail, addressed to the school’s faculty and students. “It is a mistake when I don’t set the best example I can.”

Lavine’s e-mail rejected suggestions that he had fabricated the quotes: “I have been in journalism for more than 40 years as a reporter, editor, publisher and educator. I do not make up quotes.

“But I did exercise poor judgment, and I apologize for that.”

Media outlets and faculty members have criticized the dean’s use of anonymous quotes, which voiced support for his controversial efforts to bring the marketing and journalism sides of Medill closer. Both journalists and faculty have also pointed to doubts about the quotes’ veracity.

The issue was first brought up in a Daily Northwestern column by Medill senior David Spett, who investigated one quote in particular. The quote in the dean’s first-person column supposedly came from a journalism undergraduate talking about a marketing class:

“I came to Medill because I want to inform people and make things better,” a Medill junior told me. “Journalism is the best way for me to do that, but I sure felt good about this class. It is one of the best I’ve taken, and I learned many things in it that apply as much to truth telling in journalism as to this campaign to save teenage drivers.”

Spett wrote in his column that every student in the class denied saying the quote.

Seventeen Medill faculty members released a statement Tuesday, calling for the dean to end the controversy by offering details on his actions. A similar student petition began circulating just after midnight Wednesday.

Medill senior Emmet Sullivan, one of the four authors of the student petition, said he appreciated the dean’s apology.

“This is a good first step to settling this controversy once and for all,” he said via e-mail Wednesday night.

But he added that he thinks Medill students should still be heard, and a discussion is needed on anonymous sources: “While the dean has apologized, we will continue in our petition.”

As of Wednesday afternoon, Northwestern had no comment beyond its Tuesday statement from Alan Cubbage, vice president for university relations. The statement said that the university is reviewing the case and that “Northwestern takes such matters seriously.”

Lavine’s e-mail said that he should have also handled the sourcing of his column differently: “I should have asked permission to use the student’s name with their comment about the IMC 303 class.”

Lavine said that his “second mistake” was not keeping the notes of his conversations.

Microsoft tried to help recover Lavine’s e-mails, which may have helped find records of the quotes, he said, but was unable to do so.

A committee will be set up to review the standards of what’s published under the Medill name, Lavine said.

When asked Wednesday about the anonymous-sources policy of Medill magazine, Managing Editor Katie Nugent declined to comment.

“We’ve been told not to say anything about the issue,” Nugent said.

Here’s the full statement:

In the middle of the controversy over two letters to the alumni that I wrote last year in Medill magazine, I want to make what for me is a very important point.

I have been in journalism for more than 40 years as a reporter, editor, publisher and educator. I do not make up quotes.

But I did exercise poor judgment, and I apologize for that. I used a quote from a student in a letter I wrote in the Spring 2007 issue of Medill without naming the student. I should have asked permission to use the student’s name with their comment about the IMC 303 class.

Although our alumni magazine has run unattributed direct and indirect quotes before, as your dean I must ensure that the magazine, as one of the many public faces of the School, should operate with the highest possible standards.

Medill faculty teach our students that journalism should be transparent. It is a mistake when I don’t set the best example I can. Just as our faculty set high classroom standards for students learning to be journalists, as dean I should exhibit those standards.

Today I met with the Dean’s Council, a group of 14 faculty and staff members who are deeply involved in teaching and in administering the school. We agreed to review the standards for all work published under the Medill banner. I will set up a faculty committee this week to begin that process.

I had hoped to write this letter earlier and quickly settle this controversy by providing the emails and notes I used as the basis for the letter to alumni. I and others searched my email from a year ago. Then we tried to retrieve email that had been deleted at the time when the article was written. After extensive efforts on the part of Microsoft, they said that after five days, the system my office uses permanently deletes messages that I have deleted, and they cannot be recovered.

My second mistake was that I did not save the notes I took in the IMC class. That was careless and something I knew never to do as a reporter.

Now, the matter has been referred to NU Provost Dan Linzer’s office and until that review is complete, I have been asked to hold further comment. I am anxious to more fully discuss this matter with you when the Provost’s work is done.

Sincerely,

John