I’ve always gotten a kick out of certain sports stars emphasizing the “The” when stating that they went to school at Ohio State University. They might not be so proud of their alma mater these days.
Ohio State University is coming to grips with what appears to be decades of abuse of student athletes and patients of OSU’s student health services at the hands of team doctor Richard Strauss. To date more than 100 victims have come forward, many describing their efforts to expose Strauss and their anger that their concerns were met with institutional indifference.
Strauss committed suicide in 2005.
When I saw this headline in The Columbus Dispatch, “Ohio State’s actions will determine how it weathers public-relations storm, experts say,” I threw a penalty flag. Calling what is being investigated at Ohio State a PR storm contributes to the wrong that’s been done. To describe it as merely a PR problem trivializes its importance. It contributes to the storyline that the university is among the victims rather than an alleged accomplice.
The alleged sexual abuse of 100 or more students is not a PR storm, it is a crisis that has resulted from many years of allegedly bad behavior by a medical professional who is accused of violating the trust of dozens upon dozens of students. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the bad behavior appears to have extended to the system that inherently protects those in power and contributes to the victimization of the powerless.
I can say that with confidence because we have seen it so many times that it must be baked into the DNA of these big schools. We saw it with Jerry Sandusky at Penn State and we saw it earlier this year with Michigan State University’s handling of a similar sex abuse scandal. In that case, more than 80 girls and women came forward to shine the light on many years of abuse by Dr. Larry Nassar – and MSU’s apparent resistance to doing anything about it.
The Daily Collegian, Penn State’s student publication, made this point back in February in the story, “Larry Nassar and Jerry Sandusky: Similarities run deep between Michigan State, Penn State sexual abuse cases.” In both earlier cases, there was an institutional indifference if not outright hostility toward concerns raised by students and an explicit push by those in power to protect their own kind.
Eventually, backlash culminated in the resignations of the presidents of those two universities.
The sex abuse allegations swirling around Ohio State are a bit different in that the incidents allegedly occurred during a 20-year span going back to the late 1970s. That was before OSU President Michael Drake was onboard, which might explain why he is now pushing fairly aggressively for a transparent airing of what independent investigators are finding.
From the looks of it, OSU’s leadership is now approaching this appropriately – although some of the alleged victims say they have been threatened, harassed and intimidated by university staff. Nonetheless, the university brought in independent investigators and they’ve begun to release information about the allegations as it becomes known.
These are positive steps and they show OSU leadership is fully aware of the tremendous damage done to the reputation of MSU and Penn State.
From a PR perspective, these steps by OSU represent a good start in what will be a years-long effort. There are no shortcuts in rehabilitating reputation. You want to begin the long-term work of rebuilding trust through action matched by clear communication that emphasizes concern and compassion for the victims, a willingness to mobilize all available resources to aid the victims, and an unwavering commitment to honestly and transparently understand the scope of the problem – including why it took so long to bubble to the surface – so it never happens again.
These are three universally applicable crisis messages: we care; we’re responding; we’re investigating. They can be effective regardless of the nature of the crisis.
That’s not to suggest that public relations can solve every crisis. In fact, I don’t believe public relations can “solve” any crisis. Certain public relations tactics can help to establish lines of communication, build understanding and encourage transparency – all of which are helpful in establishing or strengthening trust. We can seek and establish strategic alliances, ensure the organization is open to feedback and responsive, and mobilize leadership – all of which are important in ensuring the needs of the people who have been affected are met.
While there are certainly public relations implications to the revelations of Strauss’ alleged misdeeds, and PR will surely play a role in rebuilding trust for Ohio State, this is not a “PR storm.” This is not a storm that was caused by bad PR and it won’t be solved by good PR. This is a storm caused by an institution not responding in an appropriate or timely fashion to the concerns of people who should matter most – the students of Ohio State University.
Photo Credit: Always Shooting
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