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University should have been more up front about Morrison's firing
Issue date: 12/7/07 Section: Editorial
- Page 1 of 1
The public relations department of a university is supposed to disseminate information.
So you would think that when its top officer is fired, it would make an announcement.
But that's not the case.
The university made no announcement about Rich Morrison, former associate vice president of public relations and marketing's firing until newspaper reports were published Wednesday. He was let go last Friday.
What was the delay?
The university community has a right to know when one of the top administrators is fired.
Shame on CMU for not being more transparent.
An announcement should have been made no later than Monday morning. It should have said Morrison was let go on Friday with a statement from University President Michael Rao.
Obviously the university is not going to say a whole lot about the situation. However, that doesn't mean it shouldn't get the facts out to the public.
When a institution has bad news, it should release it immediately and not hide it. The institution should seize control of the situation. News like this should never be first reported by the news media.
Because the news wasn't released by the university, it has lost control of the situation. Now people can jump to conclusions as to why this announcement wasn't made sooner. And it's never good when people jump to conclusions.
CMU looks as if it had something to hide by not releasing that information. This is just a poor reflection of the university.
Did CMU think that no one would find this information out? Did it think the situation would just go quietly with no reporting of it?
Of course not. The university knew darn well it would get out. This community is too small for a firing like this to go unnoticed. Yet CMU remained mum on the situation.
Many times a PR office will embargo an announcement until all the facts are there. In this instance, it is not the case. All the information was there.
Morrison was fired. Because of legality issues the university cannot release the reason for the termination. That's all you have to say. End of story.
Unfortunately this wasn't the way it was done. That is unacceptable.
A similar delay took place when nooses were found in the Engineering and Technology Building. The nooses were found Monday afternoon. The information wasn't released until Wednesday afternoon.
A disturbing trend is forming that the flow of information at the university is not being released freely. This is a trend that needs to stop.
CMU is a public institution. It should operate in the view of the public and not behind closed doors. That's unfair to students, faculty and taxpayers.
So you would think that when its top officer is fired, it would make an announcement.
But that's not the case.
The university made no announcement about Rich Morrison, former associate vice president of public relations and marketing's firing until newspaper reports were published Wednesday. He was let go last Friday.
What was the delay?
The university community has a right to know when one of the top administrators is fired.
Shame on CMU for not being more transparent.
An announcement should have been made no later than Monday morning. It should have said Morrison was let go on Friday with a statement from University President Michael Rao.
Obviously the university is not going to say a whole lot about the situation. However, that doesn't mean it shouldn't get the facts out to the public.
When a institution has bad news, it should release it immediately and not hide it. The institution should seize control of the situation. News like this should never be first reported by the news media.
Because the news wasn't released by the university, it has lost control of the situation. Now people can jump to conclusions as to why this announcement wasn't made sooner. And it's never good when people jump to conclusions.
CMU looks as if it had something to hide by not releasing that information. This is just a poor reflection of the university.
Did CMU think that no one would find this information out? Did it think the situation would just go quietly with no reporting of it?
Of course not. The university knew darn well it would get out. This community is too small for a firing like this to go unnoticed. Yet CMU remained mum on the situation.
Many times a PR office will embargo an announcement until all the facts are there. In this instance, it is not the case. All the information was there.
Morrison was fired. Because of legality issues the university cannot release the reason for the termination. That's all you have to say. End of story.
Unfortunately this wasn't the way it was done. That is unacceptable.
A similar delay took place when nooses were found in the Engineering and Technology Building. The nooses were found Monday afternoon. The information wasn't released until Wednesday afternoon.
A disturbing trend is forming that the flow of information at the university is not being released freely. This is a trend that needs to stop.
CMU is a public institution. It should operate in the view of the public and not behind closed doors. That's unfair to students, faculty and taxpayers.
