Leadership Communications

Guiding Principles for Leadership Communications

Consistent with our core academic mission, William & Mary embraces a culture of open debate, reflection and listening. We recognize that honorable people may disagree – even deeply – and that when we create space for respectful disputation we grow in understanding. It is the role of a university to hold open such spaces both inside and outside the classroom.

With that context in mind, the following principles guide presidential and administrative communications when determining if events internal or external to campus warrant an official response. Please note, any constituent group speaks for itself and not for the university. Application of these principles is a matter of W&M leadership's best judgment, considering all that may be known about a specific matter or event:

The Emergency Management Team (EMT) and William & Mary Police have the lead on all crisis communications involving campus public safety. The EMT has an established emergency communication protocol for immediate public safety incidents and imminent or pending threats such as weather events and/or university closures.
When considering non-imminent public safety communications and messages, members of the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) are empowered by the president to reflect the university's view on issues that fall within their domain. Members of the ELT will consider the facts of the specific incident and consult as necessary with members of the campus community. Decisions will be guided by these considerations:
- Direct impact. ELT will assess the extent to which an incident directly impacts members of the campus community and if so, the scale of the impact.
- Indirect impact. ELT will assess the extent to which an incident indirectly impacts members of the campus community and if so, the scale of the impact. This could include anything from proximity to W&M, demographics of individuals involved or some other factor that has impacted members of campus.
- Appropriate responder/platform. If a response is warranted, the ELT will recommend whether the situation warrants a presidential message, campus message or a response from another member of university leadership.
- Platforms to be considered (one or all may be used):
  - Campus email message.
  - Message posted to the W&M News website:
    https://news.wm.edu/announcements/
  - Message distributed to media.
  - Message shared on W&M social media sites.
  - Message included in W&M Weekly Newsletter.