Racism Lives Here: The University of Missouri’s Response to a Campus Crisis

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe University of Missouri-Columbia faced a crisis situation during the 2015–2016 academic year after a series of racially charged incidents on campus. The University’s chancellor and University System’s president reacted to the crisis through various forms of communication. Image repair theory was utilized to examine these messages and the image repair strategies employed through them. Findings showed that at least one strategy from each of the five categories of image repair strategies was employed through these messages. The specific use of each image repair strategy used and seeming effectiveness are addressed.