Rutgers University athletic director Julie Hermann used about 13 minutes and 30 seconds of the allotted 15 minutes the Rutgers spin doctors said she would devote on Wednesday to addressing the concerns of a university community that has been confounded by her hiring and deeply agitated by the process that led to her appointment.
The verdict is in.
“The press conference was awful — simply a disaster to be blunt,’’ Ronn Torossian, president and CEO of 5W Public Relations, told The Post Thursday. “Julie Hermann seems to be completely unaware that she is now in the big league of professional sports. Both Hermann and Rutgers seem to be completely oblivious to the firestorm they are currently facing.’’
Either Rutgers is tone deaf, intractable or a little of both.
Torossian, who has worked with megastars such as Sean Combs and Pamela Anderson and Fortune 500 companies such as McDonalds and Coca Cola, said Hermann and Rutgers can recover from this if they are willing to change how they are doing business.
“The Rutgers disaster won’t go away until they own up to the fact that there’s a problem,’’ said Torossian. “Of all places, a university should be above reproach, and clearly this process wasn’t and isn’t ideal.”
Rutgers has chosen to dig in. John Framer Jr., the school’s general counsel, who penned a guest column in the Newark Star Ledger comparing Hermann’s memory lapses to former President Bill Clinton, has not responded to numerous interview requests to explain why the university chose to move forward with Hermann after learning of the two lawsuits in which she was involved.Neither of the co-chairs of the university’s executive search committee, especially Kate Sweeney who, sources said, lobbied hard for Hermann, has stepped up to address concerns — many made by members of the committee itself — of a search process that by many accounts was hurried and not thorough.
“The ongoing situation at Rutgers lies squarely at the intersection of crisis communications and brand,’’ said JP Laqueur, one of the founders of brand consultation giant Brandstone.
“We always advise clients to look back to the foundational elements of their brand when crafting any public-facing communications, crisis or otherwise.Rutgers is one of the oldest and most respected public colleges in the country, with a rich academic and social tradition.“They’d be wise to mine that positive legacy as they develop strategic messages to deal with the current storm and begin the longer process of restoring their proud brand.”
Pride in the Rutgers athletic department currently is lower than the Raritan River in the midst of a drought. Hermann comes to an athletic department that is reeling.
Former men’s basketball coach Mike Rice, who threw basketballs at players and used homophobic slurs, was fired in April. That led to the forced resignation of popular AD Tim Pernetti, for trying to rehabilitate Rice rather than firing him outright, and the minor fiasco of identifying new coach Eddie Jordan as a Rutgers graduate when he is not.
Ironically, Rutgers must try to rehabilitate Hermann’s image. She was an unknown commodity in the Northeast, coming from Louisville and a career based mostly in the Southeast.
Since her hiring on May 15, Hermann and Rutgers have been under siege. The report of her former Tennessee volleyball players saying she called them “whores, alcoholics and learning disabled,” touched the nerve left raw by Rice.
Her involvement in two lawsuits — a pregnancy discrimination case filed by a former assistant volleyball coach at Tennessee who won a $150,000 judgment and a gender discrimination at Louisville, which will be heard by the Kentucky Supreme Court — have made her ability to succeed as a fundraiser and department head more difficult.
“When she begins on June 17, she’ll need to work very hard to succeed,’’ said Torossian. “It’s never easy to raise funds for an athletic director. It is even harder when it’s an embattled program and the person asking for the money is under attack.’’
So what can Hermann and Rutgers do between today and June 17 and going forward? Torossian has some advice for Hill and Knowlton Strategies, the crisis management firm Rutgers has hired to the tune of $150,000 in taxpayer money.
“They need to play up the fact that there is a woman in this role — and the PR agency should humanize her and make her more likeable,’’ he said. “From a stylist to media training, all these things should happen before she formally starts.’’
Hermann acknowledged on Wednesday she has her work cut out. She said she would have to, “work double time to connect with people who are passionate about Rutgers. … I think one-on-one meetings are going to be critically important.’’
They will be. Torossian said Rutgers can still undo a lot of the damage by being transparent, acknowledging its mistakes. He added Hermann should do an interview from a non-work environment.
“All that said, while both Rutgers and Hermann will be scarred by this, it isn’t yet insurmountable,’’ he said. “America always loves winners. If Rutgers can win in their programs this too shall pass.”