Ralph Northam Could Lose His Governorship Over a Racist Yearbook Photo. For His Alma Mater, the Risks Are Dire, Too.

The Washington Post, Getty Images

Thrust into the national spotlight over racist images found in a decades-old yearbook, Eastern Virginia Medical School officials scrambled on Monday to respond to a crisis that had been hiding in plain sight.

The public institution in Norfolk, Va., has been reeling since last week, when a reporter unearthed a photo on Ralph S. Northam’s 1984 yearbook page that appeared to show the Virginia governor in either blackface or a Ku Klux Klan uniform. Reversing an initial admission of guilt, Northam, a Democrat, now disputes that he appears in the photo. That has done little to stem calls for his resignation, which have ratcheted up in recent days.

The political scandal for Northam has unfolded in tandem with a reputational crisis for the medical school, where officials have condemned the photo as antithetical to its values and have pledged to investigate whether other yearbooks contain similar images. Reporters have already turned up another blackface photo.

On Monday, The Washington Post reported that the medical school discontinued yearbooks in 2013, after a diversity officer raised questions about a photo of three white students dressed in Confederate uniforms.

For a 46-year-old medical school with mostly regional name recognition, a political scandal of this magnitude risks lasting reputational damage on a national scale. Unlike most incidents of racial insensitivity in higher education, where a few students can be counted on each year to wear racist Halloween costumes, this episode has generated near-constant news-media coverage because of its significant political implications.

Marcus L. Martin, a member of Eastern Virginia’s Board of Visitors, has watched the story unfold with disbelief and sadness. Martin, who was a member of the medical school’s charter class of 1976 and was its first black graduate, said he did not witness the sort of pervasive racism there that the photograph may suggest.

“This 1984 yearbook is a total surprise to me, abhorrent for sure,” Martin said in an interview with The Chronicle on Monday. “To me that’s overt racism, and I didn’t experience overt racism while I was a medical student there.”

Erasing a Smear

The scandal has been sufficiently potent to spread beyond the medical school, as two public-college presidents in Virginia have felt compelled to condemn Northam in recent days. Katherine A. Rowe, president of the College of William & Mary, on Monday rescinded an invitation for Northam to speak at a campus event, calling the photo a “a painful reminder of the hate, divisiveness, and racism that so many in this country have sought for generations to overcome.”

Her statement followed an admonishment from James E. Ryan, president of the University of Virginia, who called the photo “shocking and racist,” and suggested that the governor had lost his ability to lead.

Whatever becomes of Northam’s political career, Eastern Virginia Medical School won’t easily erase the smear of this episode.

“The reputational damage is obviously there,” Martin said. “I do think that over time as we glean more information, perhaps some of this reputational damage will go away. The leadership of the school is strong, and the track record of the school is strong.”

The medical school’s board held an emergency meeting on Monday to discuss its response, which includes opening an independent investigation and forming a Community Advisory Board to examine the campus’s culture.

Martin, who serves as UVa’s vice president and chief officer for diversity and equity, was unable to attend the board meeting. But he said he spoke on Sunday with Richard V. Homan, president and provost of the medical school. Martin said he was satisfied with Homan’s response thus far.

“It’s not a result of his leadership or lack of leadership,” Martin said. “Certainly, he wasn’t there in 1984.”

Homan was not made available for comment on Monday. The institution has scheduled a news conference for Tuesday at 2 p.m. to discuss its yearbook.

The medical school’s investigation is important, Martin said. But the yearbook controversy is just the latest symptom of the enduring problem of racial bigotry with which higher education and the nation at large will continue to grapple, he said.

“White supremacy is not new; these acts of blackface are not new,” Martin said. “It’s part of the fabric of this country. It’s not just this one institution. It’s the leadership of the country from the White House on down that needs to be addressed. This is not new for me as an African-American male in my 70s.

“It was a pleasure to go to EVMS,” he continued. “That’s why I was distraught and appalled by this.”

Jack Stripling covers college leadership, particularly presidents and governing boards. Follow him on Twitter @jackstripling, or email him at jack.stripling@chronicle.com.