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April 4, 2006
Duke University’s Reputation in Crisis
PHOTO: Duke's Logo
“They need presidents, they need administrators, they need faculty, to tell them that it was wrong behavior and that they are not going to be coddled because they are athletes, because they come from privileged backgrounds, because they have money.”
Comments from Duke graduate student Michelle Christian complaining that Duke University officials continue to downplay the alleged rape and beating of an African-American woman by three players on the Duke lacrosse team.
Duke University's highly-ranked lacrosse team was recently suspended from play while many of the team's members face an ongoing rape investigation.
The police inquiry stems from allegations made by an exotic dancer who says that she was raped, choked and beaten by three members of the lacrosse team during a private party held by team members. The woman said that the incident occurred on March 13 in a university-owned home that is occupied by three of the team's four captains.
Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong, one of the officials investigating the incident, said that the dancer, a single mother attending North Carolina Central University, was paid $400 to perform at what she believed would be a small bachelor party. When she arrived at the house, however, the party was significantly larger than she had anticipated and had as many as 40 men in attendance, Nifong said.
According to a police statement made by the three team captains who lived in the house, all of the party's attendees were Duke lacrosse team members.
PHOTO: Duke University President Richard Brohead, left, and Director of Athletics Joe Alleva field questions from the media after announcing the university's suspension of future men's lacrosse games until there is clearer resolution of the legal situation involving team members at Duke University in Durham, N.C. on Tuesday, March 28, 2006. The action follows allegations of a sexual assault of a woman hired as a private dancer to a party attended by team members March 13.
The Duke administration has been mired in controversy regarding its handling of the incident. Much of the criticism the university has faced involves its decision, as of March 31, not to conduct its own investigation into the matter. Instead, the Durham Police Department has handled the incident.
Forty-six of the 47 lacrosse team members were subjected to DNA tests by court orders. The 47th member of the team was excluded from the DNA test because he is black and the woman -- who is also black -- said that her three attackers were white. She has also said that during her time at the party several of the men shouted racial slurs at her.
In an unrelated incident, which also occurred on March 13, a different black woman called 911 after a white man allegedly shouted racial slurs at hear near the Duke campus.
According to several news reports from the area, the racial implications of the attack have illuminated the tensions between Duke and the city of Durham, N.C., where the university is located.
Slightly more than 11 percent of the undergraduates at Duke University in the 2004-05 academic year were black. Based on the 2000 census 44 to 45 percent of the residents of Durham are black.
PHOTO: Demonstrators listen to a response from Duke University's President Richard Brohead following a news conference held to announce the university's suspension of future men's lacrosse games until there is clearer resolution of the legal situation involving team members at Duke University in Durham, N.C.
Additionally, tuition for Duke can run above $40,000 a year, while roughly 15 percent of Durham residents live below the poverty line. Even before the alleged incidents on March 13, the Princeton Review listed Duke as the fifth worst university in the nation with respect to town-gown relations.
According to crime statistics published by Duke in accordance with the Clery Act, there were eight incidents of forcible sexual assault there in 2004. Statistics for the 2005-06 year have not yet been compiled. Duke has 6200 undergraduate students.
A few reputation management tips from the Reputation Doctor regarding the Duke crisis:
• Duke’s president should be repeating a much stronger statement daily regarding zero tolerance for rape, racial slurs and inappropriate and illegal behavior on campus by any student or employee at Duke.
President Brohead has been much more protective than proactive in his overall communication regarding the alleged rape and beating by several members of the Duke lacrosse team of an African-American woman. He is learning the hard way that a tone of compassion towards the woman harmed, as well as an unwavering and blunt attitude in communicating a zero tolerance policy for all in non-legal terms are both needed in a national, public crisis like this.
• Duke University needs to understand in a national crisis the court of public opinion is more important than the court of law.
Duke officials, their attorneys and PR staff are leaning so heavily on the law they don’t even see the University’s reputation covered in mud. Labels like rapist and racist are not easy to repair. Sadly, the court of public opinion has already spoken and the leaders are asleep at the wheel.
• Duke needs a seasoned crisis PR firm to help them through the crisis.
Currently, Duke has not hired a crisis PR firm to help them through the fire. They believe it is best handled internally. Unfortunately, the Duke PR staff and current consultants are not experts in handling this type of crisis. This crisis is a racial, class, sports, university and legal crisis. The longer they wait to get help from true professionals in crisis communications, the more reputational damage will be done.
Remember, do the right thing when your reputation is in crisis and seek the counsel of an experienced reputation management expert. It will be a major challenge, but ultimately the rewards of repairing your reputation will be great. Why? Because Your Reputation Is Everything! ™
About Mike Paul
Mike Paul is editor of The Reputation Doctor blog. The Reputation Doctor is a nickname given to him by various clients. Mike's blog is located at www.ReputationDoctor.com. He appears regularly on Fox News Channel, CNN, MSNBC, Court TV, ABC News, ESPN, CBS News, BBC, and others as a weekly contributor and expert in the global news regarding leaders, celebrities, corporations and other organizations with reputations in crisis. Mr. Paul is also president and senior counselor of MGP & Associates PR (www.mgppr.com), a leading strategic public relations and reputation management firm based in New York. For interview requests, speeches, senior counseling or other business opportunities with Mr. Paul, call 212-595-8500 or email info@mgppr.com.
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