Talking Shop: Making a Statement
Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts, U.S., is an independent coeducational boarding school. As its Chief Communications Officer, Tracy M. Sweet takes to heart her role in providing communications that enrich, inform, and protect the school community. When pressures to respond to an increasing number of political and societal events began taking her attention away from that mission, she and the school’s leadership team took action by developing guidelines for responding to world events.
What prompted you to develop guidelines on when to address societal issues?
In the span of two years, we issued eight statements on societal events, such as the war in Ukraine, the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, and the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, U.S. The process was reactive, and it felt presumptuous to think that a school statement would have some profound effect. We questioned whether putting out such statements aligned with our mission. We took a moment to pause and really think about that.
The guidelines start by asking what the campus community needs from Andover. This could include things like informational resources and support, a place to gather, and/or an educational forum.
Once our campus community is taken care of, we address the need for a public statement by asking: Is the matter relevant to education? Does it directly impact our mission? Does Andover have expertise to advance deeper understanding of the issue?
If we answer “yes” to any of those questions, the guidelines lead us through a discussion that helps us consider the potential effects of issuing a statement, such as, “Would some students, faculty, or staff feel ignored or silenced, or that their opinions are unwelcome?”
How do those differ from your guidelines on crisis communications?
The guidelines are an addendum to our crisis communication plan. The fundamental question no matter the issue is: “How are we responding to the needs of our campus community?” That’s the start for both, and then they are entirely different. Our crisis communications plan is now done in the form of scenarios. We’ve designed 10 different scenarios, which we’ll keep adding to. They include a cyberattack, a student tragedy, an environmental disaster, an active shooter—all the things that keep us up at night.
You revisited the new guidance last fall. Why?
When war was ignited in the Middle East, the school’s response did not include a statement. It did include support and resources as the crisis escalated. The tragedy was addressed at a campuswide assembly, and educational programming came a few weeks later. Students recalled previous global events when Andover did speak out and wanted to know why we did not issue a statement this time.
We quickly realized we had not done a good enough job to more broadly share with the campus community that our approach to making statements had evolved. To increase awareness, the policy’s guiding principles were emailed campuswide, and they are now posted online.
For instance, one of the principles states: “Andover’s mission is to educate high school students. We teach students how to think, not what to think. And we teach them to analyze societal issues through a wide range of perspectives. We are not policymakers or experts in global affairs. Therefore, it is rare that Andover will issue a statement on societal events that do not directly impact the school’s mission.”
Why are these guidelines so important?
Having guidelines helps to create clarity when emotions are running high. Without a framework, you risk making an unanchored ethical decision by weighing the importance of one tragedy against another. That’s not sustainable, and it’s certainly not a best practice.
I believe that if there becomes a pattern of issuing performative statements, you could erode your institution’s reputation. As a strategic communications professional, I see that as an affront to the profession. We must offer substance. It is not so much the statement but rather actions that signal care and empathy and compassion. That gives me satisfaction.
About the author(s)
Ellen N. Woods is Writer/Editor at CASE.
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Article appears in:
May-June 2024 Issue of Currents
FINDING THE RIGHT WORDS: Best practices for responding in high-stakes situations. Also, how to diversify your donor pipeline, why mentoring matters, and harnessing the narrative with the seven basic plots of storytelling.