BY: Matthew VanTryon|Editor-in-Chief, Mallory Duncan|Digital Managing Editor
Marc Allan is no longer the interim adviser of The Butler Collegian. Effective immediately, Allan has been replaced by Nancy Whitmore, the director of the Eugene S. Pulliam School of Journalism.
The Collegian is currently working on finding a full-time replacement.
Allan, the associate director for public relations at Butler University, was named the interim adviser on Sept. 8, after Loni McKown was removed from the position.
The decision to replace McKown with a university public relations director was scrutinized by journalists nationwide. Allan said he made the decision in the best interest of the students without thinking about potential consequences.
“Part of it was, since I had been the public editor, I wasn’t that concerned,” Allan said. “The other thing was, I’m more interested in working with the student journalists than I was thinking any further than that.”
Gary Edgerton, dean of the College of Communication, said the decision seemed appropriate at the time.
“Part of it is 20/20 hindsight,” he said. “I’m comfortable with the way we did the best we could in an uncertain situation that was a little bit of uncharted territory. We always tried to do the best we could and the best for the students and that really was our first and foremost thought. Now, if we were to go back and start from the beginning, maybe Nancy (Whitmore) would be the interim adviser. “
Edgerton and Whitmore said the conflict of interest between Allan and The Collegian was never going to be an issue because of the safeguards put in place. Three outside journalists were made available to The Collegian staff in case they felt uncomfortable approaching Allan because of his role at the university.
“I saw this as an internal matter, not an external matter, and I knew Marc was the best person at the university to give (The Collegian) advice,” Whitmore said. “We put immediately into place that there would be these three independent journalists and all Marc would do was critique the paper and help students with their writing.”
Whitmore will serve as the interim adviser until The Collegian staff can find a full-time replacement.