Imus, Rutgers Imbroglio Highlights University Brand Importance

Woe unto Don Imus, who purveys racist and misogynist talk-radio banter, for he has fallen afoul of a major corporate interest. No--not his advertisers or even his own employer, CBS Radio, although it's angry, too. On Tuesday, Imus discovered the power of university PR departments.

A press conference with the Rutgers' women's basketball team, whom he had insulted, was broadcast live on ESPN and Yahoo, and highlighted as the main story on CNN.com. Beyond pillorying Imus, the event also highlighted the importance of university brands--especially when high-profile athletics programs are involved.

College sports programs earned $4.2 billion in revenue in 2005-06, with one operation--the University of Arizona men's basketball team--raking in a profit of $12.5 million on $16.6 million total revenue. In 2003, CBS signed an 11-year, $6 billion contract to broadcast NCAA games.

While a relative newcomer to the game, women's college basketball is swiftly ascending the ranks, with revenues of $77 million in 2005-06. What's more, college athletics garner more media exposure than any other aspect of higher education, serving as platforms for student recruiting and alumni fundraising.

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Although many women's basketball programs are still posting overall dollar losses, they make up for it in publicity and receive budget allotments to match. In an interview with Dallas-Fort Worth radio station WFAA, University of Connecticut athletic director Jeffrey Hathaway explained: "If you can invest in a program that will get you on national TV, people value that exposure." Baylor University's athletic director Ian McCaw echoed Hathaway: "Attendance is growing, there's national television exposure, and that's caused institutions to be more serious about women's basketball."

So when Imus called the Rutgers players "nappy-headed hos," he wasn't just denigrating young scholar-athletes; he was damaging the school's brand. Rutgers University got an opportunity to take a socially progressive stance--a PR "gimme." School officials seized it, lunging at Imus with a ferocity usually reserved for the basketball court.

Setting the tone, athletic director Robert Mulcahy III said the "reprehensible and disgusting" remarks had "assassinated the character" of the players in a "vile, despicable and racist manner." At the center of the counter-attack was an act of rhetorical jiu-jitsu, which turned Imus' epithet on its head. It recast the players' rise from tough circumstances as a rags-to-riches story--a sure winner in American public discourse. Over the next few days, officials repurposed the controversy as a fight against entrenched bigotry that symbolically paralleled the team's remarkable underdog performance in the NCAA tournament.

The university's PR team wisely let the players take the foreground, using the press conference to showcase their basic decency and sincerity, deepening the contrast with Imus. This strategy also leveraged the American public's interest in athletes and general sympathy for ambitious young people. But the institution's message was unmistakably woven within all communications: Rutgers represents what's best in America.

Coach Vivian Stringer drew the connection in her statement on Sunday: "Throughout the year, these gifted young ladies set an example for the nation that through hard work and perseverance, you can accomplish anything if you believe... I truly believe my team represented Rutgers University, the state of New Jersey and NCAA student-athletes across the country in the highest manner... It is unfortunate Mr. Imus sought to tarnish Rutgers' spirit and success."

Painting the event in an even more dramatic light, athletic director Mulcahy took on American social ills in general: "It is time we all understand the lack of civility and sensitivity in our relations... You cannot erase the hurt, but you can have people change their ways."

Invoking the Rutgers brand, he affirmed that the players "represent their university in a magnificent and classy manner" and concluded with a hint of things come: "We are in the process of considering our options, so that the country can see what this university stands for and the quality, strength and character of our women's basketball team."

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