By Greg Hazley
Florida A&M University has received informal crisis communications counsel from Ron Sachs Communications over the past two weeks as the Tallahassee institution reels from the apparent hazing-related death of a drum major in its marching band.
The school’s board of trustees is considering a one-month, $10K contract to officially hire a firm and has also mulled a longer PR commitment of up to a year.
Photo: Florida A&M |
The board on Dec. 8, in the same meeting it considered its PR options but took no action on that front, reprimanded university president James Ammons over the death of 26-year-old Robert Champion in November after the acclaimed marching band performed at a football game in Orlando.
An investigation is pending as to the cause of death, but speculation has centered on the marching band’s tradition of hazing of new members. A band member won a $1.8M civil suit against other members over a 2001 incident in which he was paddled to the point of kidney damage. A 2006 hazing incident led two A&M students to serve jail time for another paddle beating.
Ron Sachs, president of RSC, told O’Dwyer’s he has counseled the school on a volunteer basis over the past few weeks as the crisis mounted. His firm his being considered for a formal contract with the school, although trustees have also suggested putting a contract out for bids.
Sachs, a resident of Tallahassee, is on the school’s board of visitors for its school of journalism and graphic communication and described his crisis counsel as “ex officio.”
Florida A&M terminated band director Julian White four days after the death of Champion and suspended several students, although state law enforcement officials, acting at the request of Gov. Rick Scott, have requested that those moves be delayed pending their investigation.
An eight-member task force led by former Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth has been tapped by the university to investigate whether a culture of hazing is present in the band program at the school.
The band’s performances have been suspended pending that probe.
|