Duke has hired public relations firm Edelman to help publicize positive aspects of the University, officials on both ends of the deal confirmed Wednesday.
The independent global firm will work to select, simplify and present Duke's best characteristics both internally and to the public, said John Burness, senior vice president for public affairs and government relations.
The hiring comes after three members of the 2005-2006 men's lacrosse team were indicted for rape, garnering national media attention.
"I feel pretty strongly, especially in this post-lacrosse environment, that we need to have more clarity in our messages about Duke's distinctive strengths and the wisdom and discipline to emphasize them with clarity," Burness wrote in an e-mail to campus leaders Wednesday afternoon. "Edelman presented an exceptionally strong situational analysis to our group and is well known for placing a heavy emphasis on research-driven communications," he said.
A consulting team will be on campus working with administrators, faculty and students, said Matthew Harrington, president of Edelman's eastern region.
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Edelman has already analyzed Duke's media, athletic and race-related challenges, Burness said, adding that the firm presented feedback on Duke's main webpages.
Although the firm does not specifically list educational institutions among its areas of expertise, Harrington emphasized its broad range of clients.
"I think universities, like any institution, value outside opinion to help them formulate communication strategy--and that's what we're going to work to do," Harrington said.
Edelman was selected a few weeks ago from seven national firms that responded to a University-issued request for proposals. Duke will employ Edelman for the next several months, Burness said.
The Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees and President Richard Brodhead, who were informed of the hiring last week, are "highly supportive," he added.
"These last several months have been extraordinarily challenging," Burness said. "[Lacrosse] will remain part of the Duke story for some time, and given all the negative attention, particularly to our students, we need to take a far more strategic and focused approach... to provide coherent messages about Duke."
Harrington, whose office is based in New York, said his firm needs to conduct more research before it can determine what, specifically, it will do when consultants arrive on campus.
It is not uncommon for universities to seek the counsel of public relations firms, said Julie Britton, associate professor in the Fuqua School of Business.
"I certainly think any time you've had unfavorable press that it would be quite common for a business to want to work on the public image of the organization," she said.
The popularity of college rankings has led to an increased prevalence of public relations firms on campuses nationwide, Britton said.
Duke fell three spots to eighth place in magazine U.S. News and World Report's 2007 rankings of the nation's top colleges, released earlier this month.
"[Rankings] are based on other people's perception of [a] university and not necessarily on a lot of factual information," Britton said. "You want someone out there making sure that people have correct perceptions."
"We don't really know what Duke is up to at the moment. We sort of know it's a good place, but how is it different from any other good place?" she added.
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