The University of Maryland Needs to Get Out of PR Mode And Do What Is Right

No matter what the outcome of the investigation into Jordan McNair's death comes out to be, one thing is for certain.  It will not end well for the University of Maryland.  The ESPN article that came out on Friday, describing an alleged culture of bullying and intimidation by the coaching staff within the Maryland Football Program that may have contributed to McNair's death, ensures that The University has already lost in the arena of public opinion.  What needs to come from officials at the University of Maryland now are steps to do right by the McNair family.  Placing DJ Durkin on administrative leave is a start, but President Wallace Loh sending out emails to the fan base with a bunch of PC quotes does nothing.  Here are excerpts from his email to the Maryland Community:

"I [Wallace Loh] am profoundly disturbed by the media reports yesterday about verbally abusive and intimidating conduct by Maryland football coaches and staff towards our student athletes on the team"

"Our responsibility as teachers is to inspire and enable students to perform at their best and expand the boundaries of their potential, in the classroom and/or on the athletic field.  Humiliating and demeaning a student is not only bad teaching and coaching, it is an abuse of the authority of a teacher and a coach."

"The University of Maryland is committed to a football program that is safe and humane, and where our student-athletes are successful in their academic and athletic endeavors.  This commitment will be carried out with accountability, fairness, and transparency."

While these words are nice, all of them ring hollow in the face of the allegations put out by the ESPN article and the fact that the McNair family lost their son under the watch of this commitment to a "safe and humane" football program.  What needs to happen is what is stated at the end of the last quote, and it needs to happen now rather than a month from now.  That is accountability and transparency.

The University already lost the chance to come out and be accountable, and understandably so.  In these cases it is hard to be open due to the fear of lawsuits, but what is right in this situation is to be penitent.  The University has to anticipate that lawsuits are coming, and more than likely they will lose if any part of the ESPN article is accurate.  Wallace Loh's words of commitment to safety and responsibility smack of a futile effort to try and paint the values of the University as contrary to what is coming out about the football program in order to mitigate the impact of inevitable litigation.  In the court of public opinion, however, those values will be one and the same for the near future, and Loh would do well to be accountable in the form of contrition.  

The University should have come out and said something to the effect of "We failed in our commitment to Jordan McNair and his family in providing a safe and secure environment, and the University's ongoing investigation will be looking into the specifics of how that failure manifested itself".  This would have shown remorse for the loss of Jordan McNair and accountability in the form of a collective dereliction of duty without giving any specific culpability until the investigation is completed.  It is not too late for Loh and the University to show accountability through contrition, but it should be done now rather than waiting until a report comes out that could force the University into situations where they have to publicly espouse sorrow and remorse.  By that point, an act of contrition would seem like a disingenuous tactic to save face.  Being accountable now would go a long way with the fan base, and with the people who are most important in this case; Jordan McNair's family.

Loh's remarks also talk about commitment to transparency, but really the only people that they need to be transparent with are the McNair's.  The public is owed nothing in this situation other than a more contrite message of accountability and a statement that the University is working with the McNair's in this investigation.  To be transparent, Loh could come out and say "We are working with the McNair's in this situation because to us this is not about winning a lawsuit.  This is about doing right by a family who lost their son".  This would be transparent without admitting guilt.  It would show that the University places their students and their families above their bottom line.  They could communicate this publicly, while any specific information can be shared privately with the family.  Again, this kind of transparency flies in the face of trying to be discrete in order to head off possible litigation, but the University needs to be worried about doing what is right rather than following protocol in order to mitigate the possible perils that lie ahead.

The litigation is coming.  If there is a shred of truth to the ESPN report, the University of Maryland is more than likely going to come out on the losing end, and possibly in a criminal manner if the allegation that McNair suffered a seizure an hour before the EMT's were called is true.  What the University needs to be worried about now is trying to come out of this with moral character rather than trying to win PR battles.  They need to show true remorse through admitting some form of institutional failure now, rather than spouting off carefully worded PR statements.  They need to show that they truly care about the McNair family, and the passing of their son, by working with them throughout this process, rather than conducting a unilateral investigation in order to save the most jobs possible for all those who could be implicated in a possible case of negligence.  The University of Maryland needs to do what is right in this case, and that may not be what keeps the most money flowing into the University.  But Jordan McNair's death should be about morals, not money.