Home Library Translate
A A A
Share »
Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Follow us on LinkedIn
Connect »

Blog: Crisis Management

Menu

  • This Blog's Home
  • Guest Writer Submissions
  • Policies
  • To Subscribe to a Blog
  • About
  • Feedback

Rutgers Player Abuse Creates Crisis Management Mess

By Jonathan & Erik Bernstein on April 2, 2013

Shocking footage shows coach shoving, throwing balls at player’s heads

Rutgers University is facing a major crisis after video showing men’s basketball coach Mike Rice hurling basketballs at player’s heads, shoving, yanking collars, and screaming homophopic slurs was broadcast on ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” this afternoon.

Video of Rutgers practices from the past two years was acquired by ESPN, which broadcast just seconds of what producers say is dozens of hours of damning footage:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVoOtpDuZwA

No surprise to Rutgers

The thing that’s really going to make crisis management an uphill climb is that this comes as no surprise to the college. A thirty minute video containing similar clips was shown to athletic department officials last year, but Rice recived a $50,000 fine and a three-game suspension, essentially a slap on the wrist when it comes to college sports.

Of course, the first reaction from athletic director Tim Pernetti was to dig himself a deeper hole, defending the lack of serious punishment, as well as insufficient disclosure, for, as he called it, the “first offense.”

Well, if the ESPN footage is any indication, his first, second, third and fourth chances have been used up as well. If any person walked up to another in the middle of the street and threw a basketball at their head, kicked them, or even grabbed them by their collar and pulled, they would be charged with assault. Why you would ever try to defend taking those same actions against young adults who are under your care is beyond us, and we’re sure the Rutgers PR department is sweating bullets right now.

Send in the cleanup crew

Already, media outlets across the country are calling for Rice to be fired, and a closer look to be taken at the entire Rutgers sports system. This isn’t going to blow over, the only way to put out the fire is for Rutgers to take action.

Our advice? Clean house. Fire Rice, and fire Tim Pernetti, the director who allowed this abuse to go virtually unpunished and still continues to attempt to minimize its significance. That’s not enough, though. Rutgers will have to re-train its entire athletic staff, and do so publicly enough to assure parents that this is indeed a safe place to send their children to school.

Don’t sweep it under the rug

College programs, just like any other organization, need to learn this lesson – you don’t sweep nasty business under the rug. No matter how well you think it’s buried, no matter how long in the past it may have been, it’s going to come out, and when it does you will look all the more guilty for having hidden things in the first place.

——————————-
For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
——————————-

[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is Social Media Manager for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]

« Previous Next »

Search Our Site

Meet this Blog’s Co-Hosts

Jonathan L. Bernstein, founder and Chairman of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc. has more than 25 years of experience in all aspects of crisis management – crisis response, vulnerability assessment, planning, training and simulations.[Read more ...]


Erik Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management. Erik started with BCM in 2009 as a writer and subsequently became social media manager for the consultancy itself as well as for a number of BCM clients before moving to the president position. [Read more ...]

Recent Blog Posts

  • Are You Prepared For 2021? New Crisis Management Survey Out Now
  • Crisis Preparedness and Response Is About To Get Tougher
  • How to Create a Crisis Management Plan to Respond to a Cyber Breach
  • Audi’s ‘Insensitive Ad’, or Why you always ask how else an image could be interpreted.
  • The Road To Crisis Recovery
  • Preparing DURING The Pandemic
  • Coronavirus: What You CAN Control
  • Southwest’s COVID-19 Crisis Communications And What You Need To Be Doing
  • Crisis Manager On The Spot…Quick Coronavirus Crisis Communications Tips
  • A Hallmark Apology

Categories of Posts

  • Avoid the Apology
  • college crises
  • communications
  • conflict resolution
  • Crisis Assessment
  • Crisis Avoidance
  • crisis communications
  • crisis management
  • Crisis Management Quotables
  • crisis planning
  • crisis preparedness
  • Crisis Prevention
  • crisis public relations
  • Crisis Response
  • crisis training
  • customer service
  • cyber attacks
  • cyber bullying
  • cybersecurity
  • data breach
  • Dealing With Media
  • Digital Media Law Project
  • disaster crisis management
  • disaster prevention
  • Disaster Response
  • disease crisis management
  • emergency management
  • Erik Bernstein
  • ethics
  • Facebook
  • food industry crisis management
  • hackers
  • hacking
  • Higher Education
  • hospitality
  • HR
  • information security
  • Internal Communications
  • internet crisis management
  • internet security
  • Jonathan Bernstein
  • Journalistic ethics
  • Law
  • Litigation PR
  • litigation-related crisis management
  • Media Relations
  • media training
  • online crisis management
  • Online Reputation Management
  • political crisis management
  • PR
  • preventable crises
  • privacy breach
  • privacy violation
  • Public Relations
  • recall crisis management
  • Reputation Management
  • Risk Management
  • SEO
  • social media
  • social media crisis management
  • social media policy
  • social media reputation management
  • sports crisis management
  • violence prevention
  • vulnerability audit
  • Weiner Awards
  • workplace violence

Blogroll

  • Bernstein Crisis Management Blog
  • Jonathan Bernstein's HuffPost Blog
  • The Crisis Show

Related Library Topics

  • Assessments
  • Business Insurance
  • Computer Security
  • Coordinating Activities
  • Crisis Management
  • Employment Laws
  • Ethical Analysis
  • Lawyers (Using)
  • Managing Change
  • Marketing
  • Media Relations
  • Organizational Communications
  • Planning
  • Public Relations
  • Risk Management
  • Safety in Workplace
  • Bernstein Crisis Management Blog

Library's Blogs

  • Boards of Directors
  • Building a Business
  • Business Communications
  • Business Ethics, Culture and Performance
  • Business Planning
  • Career Management
  • Coaching and Action Learning
  • Consulting and Organizational Development
  • Crisis Management
  • Customer Service
  • Facilitation
  • Free Management Library Blogs
  • Fundraising for Nonprofits
  • Human Resources
  • Leadership
  • Marketing and Social Media
  • Nonprofit Capacity Building
  • Project Management
  • Quality Management
  • Social Enterprise
  • Spirituality
  • Strategic Planning
  • Supervision
  • Team Building and Performance
  • Training and Development
About Feedback Legal Privacy Policy Contact Us
Free Management Library, © Copyright Authenticity Consulting, LLC ®; All rights reserved.
  • Graphics by Wylde Hare LLC
  • Website maintained by Caitlin Cahill

By continuing to use this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy.X