As we kick off things for the semester, we are bound to meet new people. From freshmen going out and seeing what it's like to not have mommy and daddy there any more, to the upper class-men finally seeing what it's like to live off campus, people are just asking for trouble. Recently at Lehigh University, a familiar school to most, 19 swimmers and divers were accused and arrested with alcohol charges.
Some what cliche of me to do a story on my fellow swimmers and divers, but lets see how the school is handling this situation:
Research: Looking around for this article was very hard. All the articles that I found were more or less the same and gave the same type of information. However, when I went to the athletics's website, I found more in depth decision about the situation. Also, it gives personal apologies from certain swimmers that were involved and personal statements from the Athletic Director and swim coach. However, when you go the school's main web page, there is nothing the school has done to acknowledge the situation aside from personal testimony's from past team mates (only after searching with their search bar).
Planning: Leigh's Athletic Director and Head Swimming and Diving coach met with all the members of the incident and decided that they would do the following: "One set of consequences is applied on an individual level to each of the athletes involved. Those consequences involve loss of participation privileges because we believe that participating in college sports is something that should never be taken for granted. Another set of consequences will be felt by all who are members of the swimming and diving team. At this point they have lost the opportunity of a team training trip at the semester break." This was from the most recent press release on the swimming section of their athletic website. It was posted only six (6) days later, which shows their immediate response and decision-making time. Though some students and parents may feel that the school's actions were a little harsh, I feel that they did the best thing to protect the image the college has for the university and their athletics.
Communication: I believe the college and the athletic department communicated very well to their respective communities. They got out what they needed to say and within a very good time span. I also thought it was a good idea that they used personal testimonies from the athletes to show that they had words for their families and communities as well.
Evaluate: Overall, I believe that the college handled this situation rather nicely. They kept it under control and did not let it turn into something bigger than it has been before with other university sports. The public relations person did well and used a channel to post the reaction of the college. Also, I think that not finding a lot of information on the situation helped their cause because it showed how intensive they were to keeping this rather low so it would not hurt the reputation of the school.
7 comments:
Devo-
Good case. I'm sure none of us would have heard about this if it wasn't for you. I read the message from Dean of Athletics, Joe Sterret, and thought it was well written. It showed that Lehigh is concerned with student's safety and with athlete's behavior, but it does not overplay/over scold the students for having a party with beer. After all, it is college and beer drinking is inevitable.
I think it looks like the university put some good thought into this case, and handled it well . The fact that this story is not blasted on the Lehigh homepage is not a big deal. It is actually smart. Why bring attention to this story when it is not necessary. No one died or was seriously injured, and it was not on Lehigh property. The fact that they confronted it on the Athletcis homepage is good enough. Great communication on Lehigh's part!
My last comment goes out to the student athletes at the party. We have all been at underage drinking parties off campus while at Marist. We all know the severity of alcohol poisoning, and none of us ever want our friends or fellow classmates to get hurt because of over-partying. Any party that I have ever attended, while at Marist, when Po Town's finest have arrived, the students at the party did not freak out. The worst thing to do is run from the cops and hide under mattresses and in closets. I'm sure this whole thing could have been avoided if one or two of the soberest students went OUTSIDE and talked to the cops. They could have agreed to kick everyone out, and call them cabs. Come on now, we are all in college and have to think smart! A little more communication effort on the students at the party to the police would have went a long way.
Lastly, don't let your friends get drunk enough to drool on themselves and get alcohol poisoning. Sure they may be fun to look at and draw on for a little while, but letting your buddy endanger their life and have to get their stomach pumped...that's never fun or cool.
Drink responsibly kids!
Dan -
Nice! All your comments made a lot of sense. Why would you want a negative thing plastered throughout your web pages so people can be turned away from you college? Of course, we all know that kids drink in college, something that comes with the territory it seems; but understanding it and accepting it is the real stepping stone that our society it taking.
This is not to say that we should go out and get hammered every night, but knowing our limits and watching our friends to make sure we all have fun, then drinking can be seen as something social instead of something forced. This is not to say that I agree with underage drinking, but it happens and I'm not going to deny the fact, but let us live with it.
Most importantly, like you said,
Drink Responsibly kids
Great words of advice from Devo and Dan Scott! I agree with you guys that it is probably not necessary to post this all over the home page and draw attention that is not there. Now, if this had been a more public news story that was all over the nightly news and the papers, it would be reasonable for them to address it right when the website first opens. If it is not addressed in this case, it might look like the college is running away from the situation instead of doing whatever possible to work it out.
Good case from our diving champ!
Good post, Devon. Your research into the case and nice use of the image and hot links helped me understand what was happening here.
I agree with your assessment that the school's athletic department did a good job responding to the incident ... at least in terms of the tactics and messages found on the athletic department's Web site. I also agree with your observations about the personal testimonials. They personalized the story and humanized the student-athletes ... making their apologies seem more sincere. Remember the importance of credibility ... these testimonials seemed much more effective coming from students than they would have coming from administrators or coaches.
I question whether it was wise for the school to not put out some kind of release, though ... at least none that you could find on the main Web site. Does this mean the school is dumping this issue on the athletic department to distance themselves from the issue? If so, bad move ... there were non-athletes involved ... and aren't student-athletes also the responsibility of the president of the school?
Finally, I wonder what the school is doing to mend relationships with local residents, who have complained about rowdy student behavior before. A few messages on the athletic departments Web site won't do much to make the local community feel better. So, I wouldn't be so supportive of the school's actions until I know more about how they have communicated with other audiences.
P.S. You could erase the name of the school and insert Marist or any other college in this story. The same kinds of things have happened on Delafield Ave. here in recent years. Even the house looks like one of the ones across Route 9. Scary ... I agree with Dan ... don't let friends get so drunk that they could die!
Mark
Mark,
I agree with you on the school lack of responsibility towards the issue. Hopefully our school and any other school for that matter, will learn from the students mistakes and be more responsible for their actions.
More over, it's funny that you mention the house on Delafield Ave., because that used to be a former extension of the swim team... ironic maybe, but the world works and mysterious ways!
Good comments from everyone above. Devon thanks for posting this case. I'm sure all of us are familiar with Lehigh University and would not have heard of this unless you posted it. I wanted to say that I thought the school handled this case in the best way possible. It wasn't necessary to post it all over the homepage but the athletics website did a good job in getting the information out there. I wanted to comment specifically on this case about how personal testimony from the students were taken and posted on the site. From a public relations point of view this is one of the best ways to handle the situation. Not only does this help in restoring the swimmers and divers individual reputation but helps illustrate the type of students representing Lehigh athletics. It also contributed to the emotional appeal of the audience and almost made you feel sorry for the students. In any event- don't be so careless when you're mixing alcohol with minors!
Devon, not cliché at all. Great story. I’d like to start off by saying, as far as the research aspect goes, I feel that Lehigh University should have emphasized more publicity into this case. The fact that not a great deal of information was to be found makes me feel a bit weary on the level of confidence the University has. Of course, they’re trying to protect their swimmers and the school’s reputation, but I feel that a lot more information should be available to the public. A press release, at the very least.
I do find it admirable that a few of the swimmers issued public apologies. However, they most likely only did so for publicity reasons. It’s highly unlikely that they’re sincerely apologetic for drinking, just like the majority of college students at Lehigh probably do.
I’d like to specifically comment on the “Planning” portion of this case. Although most parents and students may feel that the school’s actions were a little harsh, I believe the University wanted to communicate a dedication to this case. It’d say a lot about the school’s integrity, reputation and standards if they let these swimmers off without any sort of punishment. I feel they wanted to express that they are taking this matter very seriously and are hoping this case will set an example for future students.
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