The somber stillness of the pandemic juxtaposed with the loud cry of the George Floyd murder has shifted the social climate, giving rise to cancel culture, an increased emphasis on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, and hyper-sensitivity to how businesses, institutions, and public figures are responding. This climate is creating a reputation risk exposure for colleges and universities. Very few have the in-house capacity to mitigate or meliorate the risk as institutions and their leaders come under fire.

Consider the Hulu docuseries Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence, which tells the story of how a middle-aged, ex-con moved into his daughter’s dorm room at Sarah Lawrence College and started a sex cult. Aside from millions of viewers, in the past 6 months alone, the story had more than 8k negative mentions in the news reaching over 16 BILLION people; that equates to a lifetime value loss of approximately $220 MILLION. Moreover, statements made by the Sarah Lawrence faculty years prior contradict the institutions most recent official statements, leaving the integrity of the college in question.

TJM & Co. provides public relations, strategic DEI communications plans, reputation management and crisis communication services to colleges and universities. Our experience in corporate communications, community engagement, risk-averse strategies, journalism and media, and proven knowledge and practice in DEI makes TJM & Co. uniquely qualified to stand in the gap for these institutions.