Rutgers University, embroiled in a scandal that led to the ouster of its basketball coach and athletic director, has brought in crisis PR support.
The NCAA division 1 school has brought in Hill+Knowlton Strategies to deal with the fallout after it was besieged with criticism over a video that surfaced last month showing basketball coach Mike Rice berating and physically abusing players. Rice, who was suspended by the university last year for his conduct before the footage became public, was fired. The university, which is joining the higher profile Big Ten Conference next year, later fired athletic director Tim Pernetti and the school's top attorney.
E.J. Miranda, director of media relations for the university, confirmed H+K's hire with O'Dwyer's.
Rutgers, which has also hired a law firm for an independent probe and moved its law school dean into the university's top legal position, on April 23 started to move on from the scandal as it named Eddie Jordan, a former basketball star at the school and assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers, its new head basketball coach.
"Today is about the future of Rutgers basketball, and we're moving forward," Jordan said at his rollout Tuesday in New Brunswick.
The university on April 19 also announced the suspension with pay of its men's lacrosse head coach after allegations of verbal abuse.
H+K helped the University of Virginia tackle the unpopular firing of its president last year.
In other recent higher education crises, Edelman has counseled Penn State Univ. and DKC is working with Florida A&M Univ.
"Rutgers must have closure so our community can heal and move forward," Rutgers board of governors chair Ralph Izzo said in a statement.
There’s a fine line between newsjacking and taking advantage, aka ambulance chasing. Our job as PR professionals is to tread it carefully.
PR firms need to be mindful of ways their work product may be protected by the attorney-client privilege whenever working with a client’s internal legal team or its external legal counsel.
Manuel Rocha, former US ambassador and intenational business advisor to LLYC, plans to plead guilty to charges that he was a secret agent for Cuba.
CEO mentoring is an often-overlooked aspect of why CEOs are able to make good decisions, and sometimes make bad ones—all of which intersects with the role and duties of a board. 
How organizations can anticipate, prepare and respond to crises in an increasingly complex world where a convergent landscape of global challenges, threats and risks seem to arrive at an unrelenting pace.
Have a comment? Send it to 
No comments have been submitted for this story yet.