"I will tell you as much as I know, which is: We suspect it was some kind
of device that caused the explosion. We don't expect it to be anything other
than what it is right now. We have no reason to believe it's anything other than
what it is right at this moment. And that's all we presume it to be."
- New Haven Mayor John DeStefano
They're choosing their words mighty carefully at Yale University these days.
Look at the university's website and you'll discover there was an
"incident" at the law school Wednesday. Not a bombing; an incident.
Listen to school and city officials and you'll discover this incident involved a
"device." Not a bomb; a device.
For an institution supremely protective of its reputation, public relations
experts say it's not surprising that Yale is wary of the B-word. But as the
school prepares for an invasion of parents and dignitaries for this weekend's
graduation ceremonies, they say Yale's response will ultimately determine
whether the damage from Wednesday's explosion extends to the university's image.
Among the nation's elite universities, Yale has long fought the impression that
the school - and its city - are unsafe. Yale's public image suffered perhaps its
worst blow in 1991, with the killing of student Christian Prince, who was shot
during a robbery attempt near campus.
Since then, the school has increased the size of its police force by 60 percent
and spent $2 million just on outdoor lighting improvements. Crime in New Haven
is down a reported 50 percent in the last decade.
But when serious assaults come to the campus, from the 1993 Unabomber attack on
David Gelernter to the 1998 fatal stabbing of senior Suzanne Jovin, they make
headlines around the world. And Wednesday's explosion, which FBI and state
police sources believe was caused by a pipe bomb, brought the television trucks
once again.
With the spotlight back on, public-relations specialists offer one overriding
piece of advice: Come clean.
"Honesty is paramount in these situations," said John Morgan, director
of public relations at Quinnipiac University, a few miles north of Yale, and
president of the southern Connecticut chapter of the Public Relations Society of
America. "Your reputation is at stake. If you're not honest, you're going
to get hurt."
Tom Drohan, a crisis-communications consultant in Old Saybrook, says that
honesty should include not sugar-coating the truth.
"A bomb is a bomb, and that's it," said Drohan. "It's a bomb.
Call it a bomb."
From a public relations perspective, Wednesday's attack came at a terrible time:
one day after the nation's terror alert level was raised, the same day President
Bush was in the state, and one day before Unabomber Ted Kaczynski's birthday.
Authorities see no link.
It is just that opportunity for wild speculation that makes it essential for
institutions to communicate, both before and during a crisis, Drohan said.
"If they have not built up a reputation for responding as quickly as they
can, the press will go somewhere else for information," he said. "Then
you've lost control of the story, and then you're going to be in the position of
responding to what other people are saying about you."
Morgan praised Yale's early response, which included a campus-wide e-mail within
80 minutes of the bombing, and a news conference not long after.
Drohan and Morgan both doubt the explosion will do lasting damage to Yale's
reputation or its recruitment efforts, saying reports of random street crime are
more likely to scare applicants away.
Morgan said he suspected the bombing will be seen more as a reflection of the
times than a reflection on Yale.
