SUNY Oneonta Mishandles Crisis, Part III
In Parts I and II I looked at e-mails from Alan Donovan, President of SUNY College at Oneonta, that were sent to the student body regarding Monday’s tragic and untimely death of a student. The Daily Star reports today that:
An autopsy on a State University College at Oneonta freshman found dead in her dorm room Monday revealed she died of natural causes, Otsego County Coroner James Hurley said Tuesday.
Initial results from the autopsy performed Monday on [name withheld] ruled out foul play, Hurley said, and further test results Tuesday indicated the death was because of pre-existing health conditions. There was no infectious disease or substance abuse involved, he said.
The rumors and speculation Monday and Tuesday, fueled by vague, incomplete content in e-mails from the President’s Office, are now - hopefully - quelled.
SUNY Oneonta should have acted responsibly and respectfully by waiting until they could give the facts to the students and College community. This e-mail from Boston University’s President Robert Brown was issued after a fatal fire on March 18:
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Sent: Sunday, March 18, 2007 3:11 PM
Subject: Message from President BrownOffice of the President, Boston University
Dear Students:
As you are probably aware, another tragic fire occurred near campus, on Friday morning, in a privately owned residential building. [name withheld], a student from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, was in the building visiting BU friends and died in the fire. Our thoughts and prayers are with [name withheld] and his family. At the same time, we are reaching out to members of the BU family who were displaced or otherwise affected by the fire and providing them the material and spiritual support they need. I am sure that you also join us in sending our good thoughts to these students.
Our campus has experienced too many tragedies of late, and at times like these it is important that we look out for one another. It is also important that we not retreat to business-as-usual when it comes to matters of personal safety. It is true that the recent fires were accidental, however, we should increase our collective obligation to do what we can to avoid similar tragedies in the future.
For the University, that means going beyond our regular inspections of life safety systems within campus buildings. Over the next several days and weeks, we will inspect our buildings and residential properties to make sure that all of our systems are in perfect working order. We will reach out to students who live off-campus and make sure they have access to information about fire safety and prevention in non-University owned buildings. Additionally, we have asked our staff, especially our Residence Life and campus health and safety officials, to find additional ways in which we can continue discussions with each other about personal safety in our social and living environments.
Finally, we ask you to be more aware of your own personal safety – if there is something we can do to enhance it, please ask. If there are things you and your classmates can do to be safe and avoid accidents, please do them. We care deeply about you, and it is important that we all put the loss and pain we are feeling to a positive end – your well-being.
Take care of yourself, and let’s keep a caring eye out for each other.
Yours truly,
Robert A. Brown
President
This e-mail was sent after - not before - the University had all the facts and could report them with clarity and accuracy; President Brown explains with compassion how the University is reacting to the issue; he outlines the preventative measures that will be undertaken in the future. After a student reads this e-mail, he knows what happened, what didn’t happen, how they’re handling it and why it won’t happen again.
President Donovan, Vice President of Community Relations Blazina, etc. should take notice of how crisis is dealt with effectively and compassionately at other institutions.
