CHALLENGE

Gallaudet University, the world leader in undergraduate education for deaf and hard-of-hearing students, turned to Stratacomm in wake of large-scale student protests that shut down the school. As a result of these protests:

• The incoming president was unseated, with an interim president named;
• Negative attention was focused on the school, including negative national news coverage; and
• The school’s accreditation was put on probation, with the potential for removal (which could have resulted in the permanent closing down of the University).

STRATEGIC APPROACH

Specific to the accreditation issue, Stratacomm worked with Gallaudet’s leadership team to identify, evaluate and communicate the University’s transformation plan to its key audiences. These audiences included: 

• Students
• Parents
• Perspective student families
• Alumni
• Donors
• Faculty
• Congressional overseers
• The U.S. Department of Education
• The accrediting body itself 

As part of our work together, we held message and media training sessions and helped prepare senior officials for media interviews, including The Washington Post, local TV news stations and the Chronicle of Higher Education. Crisis communications counsel was a key component (we later helped Gallaudet’s on-campus high school conduct crisis communications training, as well).

RESULTS

Gallaudet was taken off of accreditation probation earlier than expected. University leaders credited Stratacomm with helping Gallaudet respond effectively to the crisis and ultimately help the school shift to proactive, positive communications to advance its overall mission.  

CLIENT QUOTE

"[Stratacomm’s] advice and counsel was some of the best GU ever got – especially during accreditation [crisis]…”
Executive Director of Institutional Advancement, Gallaudet University