Penn State Teaches Painful PR Lessons

Universities are supposed to be bastions of knowledge, research and education. Unfortunately, the allegations about child abuse by former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky are providing a different kind of learning experience. The tragic situation has been steadily morphing into a case history for mishandling a crisis.

State College, Pa., home to Penn State, has long been known as Happy Valley. The name clearly seemed to fit, especially when it came to the football program. In an era of constant coaching turnover, Joe Paterno had coached there since 1949. He was head coach for 49 of his 61 years on staff, winning 409 games and graduating 89% of his players.

The image of Happy Valley, built over many years, came crashing down quickly in early November. A grand jury report accused Sandusky – the former defensive coordinator – of sexually abusing eight boys in incidents dating back to 1998. The charges themselves were horrific. But the response of the university, both to the initial allegations in 1998 and 2002 as well as the grand jury report, was even more puzzling.

As the story has evolved, it appears the university’s response to the reported incident was slow and not very aggressive. Despite his stature on campus, Paterno seemed content to let the matter drop and not conduct any proactive follow up. Many theories have been offered for why more was not done. Human nature, internal politics or profit motives may have prevented asking the tough questions.

Asking the right questions at the right time could have set Penn State on a different course. Yes, the university likely would still have suffered a black eye if the allegations were true. But the pain might have been limited to a few news cycles, rather than stretching for weeks. Instead, the university seemed surprised by the grand jury report and struggled to deal with the situation.

One of the cardinal rules of crisis communications is to provide fast and accurate information. If you are unsure of the facts, then limit your statements to what you can confirm. In this case, no one at Penn State was following the same playbook. Graham Spanier, former university president, strongly defended two of his staff in his initial comments, and then he had to backtrack. Soon, all three were gone.

The trustees were slow to react, leading to the spectacle of Paterno announcing his resignation in the afternoon before he was fired later that same night. Even in trying to do the right thing, the various parties seemed to be tripping over each other.

After trustee Ken Frazier, CEO of Merck, was named to lead the school’s internal investigation, questions arose about conduct at Merck. Louis Freeh, former FBI director, was quickly named as his replacement in the investigation. No one could question Freeh’s independence, but it kept the story alive for a few more days.

Of course, the final chapter in this situation is still being written as investigations and legal inquiries proceed. But regardless of the final outcome, it’s clear that the stature of the university and the legacy of its long-time football coach have suffered immeasurable harm.