| Decisions made during a crisis are critical to the ability of a university to both attend to the issues at hand and maintain useful and supported relationships with the university community, the media, and the public. School shootings are especially sensitive to the public due to their nature and sensationalism in the media. Crises of this nature highlight the importance of crisis communication in higher education. This historical analysis considers the administrative actions taken by the administrators on the campuses of University of Texas-Austin and Kent State University after the shootings on those campuses. What can contemporary university administrators learn from the reactions of these administrations during and following these types of tragedies? How have these events changed student affairs administrators and public relations teams at universities? Analysis reveals that administrators must plan for and anticipate crises, communicate effectively during crises, and remain abreast of student development theory. |
