E-mails began to fly after January 23 as word spread of the death of Dr. Lionel C. Barrow Jr. Friends sought to honor a man who packed a lot into 82 years of life.
Barrow was a major force in integrating college and university communication faculties, a former dean of the Howard University School of Communications, a news reporter, advertising executive, Korean War veteran, jazz and poetry advocate, and a social activist inspired by his Morehouse College classmate, Martin Luther King.
His style was low-key in spite of impressive achievements. In sum, his life offers lessons in quiet leadership. Here are three.
Focus on a Worthwhile Goal
Academics spend a career building a body of related research. Barrow built a body of civil rights work over the course of his career, with academics as his main focus. His goal was the inclusion of more women and non-white educators in journalism and communication faculties.
During a memorial service at Howard University, Communications School Dean, Jannette L. Dates, described a moment that signaled Barrow’s commitment. She describes it:
Lee had the courage to stand up, in a room full of nearly 150 white male educators, who were his colleagues, and tell them that they had a moral, social and educational responsibility to do whatever was necessary ‘to end (the) totally white, virtually all male constituency in the association and in the media to which it sends its graduates.’ As you can imagine, there was stunned silence, at first. Then, the members began to think of ways to do as Dr. Barrow had suggested.
Bring Others Along
During a decade as dean at Howard and in the years that followed, Barrow spent much of his time bringing others along to achieve his vision. He re-organized the program at Howard, adding an academic structure to the professional journalism emphasis. That raised the school’s stature within the university and set it on a path to accreditation, which was achieved under his successor, Orlando Taylor. Barrow pushed for diversity at Howard, adding white faculty, including Barbara Hines, current AEJMC president. Hines noted that over the years AEJMC has named two scholarships in Barrow’s honor.
Barrow made Howard a center for students and teachers at smaller historically black colleges through an annual Communications Conference funded by major news organizations. He had spent a decade in advertising, rising to vice president and associate director of research at Foote, Cone and Belding agency. He understood the importance of contacts. The conference raised aspirations and provided networking with top professionals.
Barrow founded the Minorities and Communication Division of AEJMC to sustain the call for integration and to help new educators untangle requirements for successful university careers. He had earned master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Wisconsin and he knew the ropes. As such, he championed the need for diverse faculty and led in preparing those who could fill the need.
Barrow also brought along major white colleges and universities to hire and retain women and non-white faculty. Although he spoke in a rich bass, he wasn’t one to shout.
“Lee Barrow was an important voice in helping schools recognize the value of diversity,” said Suzanne Shaw, executive director of the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. “He spoke in a kind, thoughtful and caring way. People listened and took very seriously what he said.”
Be Persistent
During his tenure as dean at Howard, Barrow founded a newsletter named, “Still Here.” Howard Professor Melbourne S. Cummings was associate dean at the time. She said the name came from a Langston Hughes poem.
That Hughes poem, “Life is Fine,” says in part:
I guess I will live on.
The phrase, “Still Here,” aptly describes Barrow’s steadfastness. During the Tampa memorial service one of his daughters described this quality as his “stubborn resoluteness.” He simply refused to be discouraged or give up.
In his last months, he fought for the Barack Obama campaign. His wife, Dr. Frederica Barrow, said he refused pain medication so he could clearly view the Obama inauguration. He died three days later.
