The Winds of Crisis
The devastation and loss of life from Tuesday’s tornadoes in the south is monumental. Our hearts go out to the 54 people who lost their lives and the thousands impacted by the storms. Of note was the miracle that occurred at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee. The dorms of the Baptist college were decimated by the storms, with rescue efforts taking hours to free the trapped students. Despite damage on campus estimated at approximately $30 million dollars, nobody at Union was seriously hurt or killed.
Today is the perfect day to take your crisis plan off of the shelf, remove the dust and ask if your campus could sustain a trifecta of crises: $30 million dollars in damage; emotional and physical crisis to the students, faculty and staff; and a closure of campus for at least two weeks. And, as importantly, how well would your plan communicate these details to internal audiences, parents of students on campus, alumni and the local media when power and cell lines were compromised? Remember that a solid crisis plan should cover the mundane but also adapt to the extreme.
Despite many, many obstacles to overcome, Union should consider itself lucky. But remember that luck, like hope, is never a strategy.