What we can learn about Crisis Communications and University Presidents

The resignation of Harvard President Dr. Claudine Gay follows weeks of escalating fall-out from the disastrous Congressional committee testimony of Claudine Gay, MIT President Sally A. Kornbluth, and University of Pennsylvania President Elizabeth Magill (who resigned three days later). With mounting criticism of the Harvard President, featuring allegations and revelations about 'plagiarism' in her academic work, she stepped down, thus enabling Harvard a clear path to stop the flow of negativity and damage to the University's brand.

There are important lessons to be learned from this disastrous situation that may prevent such a repetition in the future:

Crisis Communications Lessons

1. Move quickly. Every hour of delay opens the door for critics to frame your position and throw you and the University onto the defensive. Within hours of the October 7th Hamas massacre of hundreds of Israeli men, women, and children, the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee and more than 30 other student groups put out a letter stating: "We, the undersigned student organizations, hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence."[Source: BBC]. The President delayed nearly three days before responding to the statement, which triggered the beginning of the downward slide in credibility for Dr. Gay and Harvard. That response did not require days of agony as to what to do and what to say. The lesson here is that in her quest to seem impartial, she came across as firmly neutral in response to an act of evil. That never works.
2. Be proactive, not reactive. In the weeks and months that followed the October 7th assault, the President and the University seemed to be in a delayed, reactive mindset when Jewish students were accosted on campus. When calls for genocide of Israelis during protest marches on campus, and when major donors threatened to pull their money and support, Dr Gay's response didn't change.
3. When called to testify make sure your message is strong, clear and credible. On December 5th Claudine Gay and her fellow University Presidents appeared before the Congressional committee. Their testimony triggered instant condemnation from the media, politicians, and the public. Many on social media went nuts demanding all three Presidents resign. Eight days later a bipartisan vote of the House of Representatives condemned the testimony, stating that the witnesses were “evasive and dismissive” when asked if calls for "the genocide of Jews" violates university policies on bullying and harassment, and failed “to simply condemn such action.” [CNN, Dec. 13, 2023] All three Presidents sounded overly coached, un-empathetic, and dismissive, barely able to contain their contempt for Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) who, in turn, grilled them with ill-disguised glee at her "gotcha" soundbites.
4. Consult legal counsel but don't let lawyers lead the Committee preparation. They are critically important to clarify legal issues and guard rails which can lead to further damage and help clients avoid self-incrimination. However, they are not the ones (with some exceptions) who necessarily understand the politics surrounding and under-pinning issues. Also, they can identify traps and help you get your message across in the political theater that has become the reality of such committees.
5. Get all the bad news out at once. There were several windows of opportunity for President Gay to provide complete information on the University's response to the growing on-campus tensions and to the growing controversy over the citations and allegations of plagiarism in her dissertation and published papers. The rule is "have a bad day", otherwise you're going to have a bad month - or a bad year. The perception created by the steady drip of more revelations ultimately made her continued Presidency untenable.

It's important to stress that those protestors who are calling for the genocide of Jewish people and who engage in the vandalization of Jewish temples and businesses, should not be mistaken for legitimate Palestinian protesters who are calling for an end to the Israeli Defence Force bombing campaign and advocating for human rights in Gaza.

There are more lessons that need to be learned and no one said it is easy, but communicating in a crisis is the ultimate test for University Presidents. Preparing for and managing the 'moments of truth' that pose a threat to the University community is a core Presidential responsibility and the criticism and attacks are often over the top. It requires strategy, tactics, and skills to nip the crisis in the bud. Sadly, in this case, it didn't happen for President Gay and Harvard University.

Barry J. McLoughlin, MPA, (Harvard Kennedy School '83) is the President of TLC Transformational Leadership Consultants Inc., with offices in Ottawa, Canada and Washington DC and is a Fellow of the Riddell Master of Political Management program at Carleton University. He trains and prepares executives for their appearance before Congressional and Parliamentary Committees, as well as managing crisis communications for leaders, including University Presidents.