Difficult disclosures in a crisis communication
Colleges have the difficult problem of when to disclose the name of a student who's run afoul of the law. Or worse. This weekend, the "worse" happened. A student drowned in the Erie Canal in Brockport, NY. The College at Brockport, a SUNY campus, did the right thing by communicating news of the drowning. College at Brockport's Facebook feed, May 10, 2015 But the initial announcement didn't disclose the student's name, which sent thousands of anxious parents across New York state into panic. Is it their son or daughter? As it happens, the student's family asked that the victim's name not be released. Which is terribly unfair to thousands of families wondering if their child is that victim. SUNY Brockport needs to respect the family's wishes, but at the same time, reassure parents of thousands of students that their child is not the victim. A few parents' unhappy reactions are captured in the screen shot of the college's ...