The first principle of crisis communications is to gather and verify as many facts as quickly as possible, disclose as much as is available as soon as possible, reach out to key constituencies, and have a leader create a presence, that is, signal genuine caring. As more facts become available, more are released. Meanwhile the constituencies are kept in the loop. This did not seem to be what happened in the aftermath of Lizzy Seeberg's suicide at Notre Dame.
Some of the facts of her situation have become well known, thanks to the media. Seeberg, a 19-year-old freshman at Notre Dame reported inappropriate sexual activity by a football player. Ten days later she took her life. That was on August 31st.
We still don't know many of the facts. We may never. Perhaps the sexual encounter was consensual. However, we weren't informed about what allegations were being investigated and what was being discovered. It is only now, right before Notre Dame's playing in the Sun Bowl that the president of the university Rev. John Jenkins is making a public statement. During that hiatus, he did not speak with Seeberg's parents. In fact, the only official representative of the university, in addition to the lawyers, to reach out to them had been the vice president of student affairs Rev. Tom Doyle.
Therefore, here it is four months later and the public doesn't know the facts. The parents have been left out in the cold. And the leader of the university is just now making a statement.
What could be the explanation for this breakdown in traditional crisis communications? Well, Notre Dame could have inadequate public relations representation or it could be simply ignoring the recommendations of its communications advisers. Or it has been scared into silence by the lawyers.
Mmmmmmmmmm, if it's the lawyers ..... What we are discovering - I write legal blog http://lawandmore.typepad.com- is that Emotional Intelligence [Download CUsersjasneDocumentsjg] often is more effective in conflicts than setting loose the best legal minds on the matter. For example, when a hospital apologized to actor James Wood regarding the death of his brother, he backed off legally. Why weren't the parents of Seeberg engaged in an open-ended series of conversations?
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Posted by: Devremülk | December 29, 2010 at 05:43 PM