February 28, 2018 • 12–2PM ET

The "#MeToo" Movement in Higher Education: 
Legal, Governance, and Public Relations Considerations

While the national #MeToo Movement captured the nation’s attention with allegations of misconduct involving national figures and celebrities, the Movement has become more evident in higher education.  The #MeToo hashtag chronicles stories of sexual misconduct that often arise in the context of imbalanced power dynamics among junior and senior faculty, graduate students and advisors, staff and supervisors, and other members of campus communities.  Although institutions are well equipped to handle allegations of sexual misconduct, the #MeToo Movement presents unique legal issues, and college and university counsel and administrators must address these issues while navigating a challenging landscape of polarized politics, cultural shifts, and around-the-clock traditional and social media coverage.

Drawing from the knowledge and experience of two NACUA member practitioners, who will be joined by a national public relations expert, this webinar will explore:

  • The legal framework for addressing harassment, through the lens of unique issues that present in the #MeToo Movement, such as:
    • social media hashtag “reports”
    • open secrets
    • stale allegations, and
    • anonymous complaints
  • Cultural Issues
  • Governance Issues
    • Obtaining buy-in from senior leadership and the Board
    • Working with faculty
  • Reputational Issues
    • Messaging to stakeholders
    • Media Monitoring and reputation management
    • The dangers of “No comment”

Who Should Attend

This webinar will be of interest to general counsel and attorneys who advise colleges and universities on sexual harassment as well as public relations personnel who work for colleges and universities.

 

Program Schedule

12:00 P.M. ET

I. Welcome, Introduction of Speakers, & Agenda

II. Context

III. Legal Framework

IV. Cultural Issues

V. Question & Answer

VI. Governance Issues

VII. Messaging and Public Relations

VIII. Take-Aways

IX. Question & Answer

2:00 P.M. ET

X. Concluding Remarks

Speakers

Steve Coffin

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Throughout his career, Steve Coffin has specialized in developing and implementing strategies to help businesses, governmental entities and non-profits align themselves around strategy and vision and more effectively communicate and ...

Susan Friedfel

Hannah Ross
Susan D. Friedfel is a Principal in the White Plains and New York, New York, offices of Jackson Lewis P.C. and the co-head of the firm’s Higher Education group.   Susan has been representing colleges and universities for more than a decade ...

Patrick O'Rourke

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Patrick T. O'Rourke serves as Vice President, University Counsel and Secretary of the Board of Regents. Mr. O'Rourke has been with the University since 2005 and most recently served as Managing Senior Associate University Counsel ...

CLE

Similar to the NACUA Annual Conference and Workshops, Continuing Legal Education credits are available for those who participate live in a NACUA Webinar...

Order Recording

The MP4 Downloadable Recording, available for $265, is a complete recording of the audio and visual portions of the event and also includes handout materials...

FAQs

A NACUA Webinar is an interactive program that you can participate in right from your office. During the program you will be able to ask questions of the speaker...

Presented in cooperation with:

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