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Dear Members of the Northwestern Community:

The executive order restricting travel to the United States by residents of seven countries issued late last week by President Trump raises serious concerns for Northwestern University and the entire academic community. The order already is being challenged in court, so it is not clear what the immediate impact will be. However, we believe strongly that there is no legitimate basis for depriving students and scholars from those countries who have already obtained visas from entering the United States to study and conduct research at Northwestern or elsewhere.

As I have said before, Northwestern is committed to being a welcoming and inclusive community for all, regardless of their beliefs. I assure you that we will take the necessary actions to protect our students, faculty and staff. In particular, we will provide support for the international students who are here. The International Office and The Graduate School will continue to act as resources for international students and scholars. For now, we advise students who are from the affected countries not to travel abroad. Students with questions about the executive order or related issues should contact the International Office at intoff@northwestern.edu or 847.491.5613 or The Graduate School at tgs@northwestern.edu or 847.491.5070.

Knowledge knows no borders, and we all benefit greatly from the presence of the talented international students, faculty and staff who are members of the Northwestern community. I sincerely hope that the Administration quickly makes clear that this country still welcomes scholars and students from around the world, just as Northwestern University does, and will continue to do so.

We are following events closely and working with the Association of American Universities and other academic organizations to monitor the situation and make clear to the Administration our position on these issues. We anticipate that there will be additional developments in the near future and we will continue to update you as more details become available.

Morton Schapiro
President and Professor
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Updated: 11:04am 

Dear Members of the Northwestern Community:

My message to the Northwestern community yesterday stated that the University “…will take all the necessary actions to protect our students, faculty and staff.”  Messages from several deans over the past few days echoed that statement. Specifically, Northwestern will refuse to provide information to the federal government regarding the immigration status of members of our community. Moreover, as stated previously, the Northwestern University Police Department will continue its longstanding policy of not detaining individuals based on their immigration status.

At times such as these, doing the right thing matters more than ever.

Morton Schapiro

President and Professor

Enjoying my school break, on December 14, I went to the annual food drive and holiday concert at Guitar Works.  This socially responsible store (homage to my strategic communication class and Professor Iden) puts together an hour-long performance featuring the talented owner, Terry Straker, and store employees, in conjunction with the guests who donate food for Evanston’s homeless. Ambassadors to Earth, the four-piece instrumental house band, hosts.

I just missed the show in 2014 because I was new to the guitar. As time rolled on and I looked at the photos from that show, I realized I had missed seeing Dan, my guitar teacher of now almost two years, perform “Hava Nagila” on the accordion.  

Now that I am back in school, I see things differently. Throughout fall quarter, how I currently measure time, I had to come up with examples of teams in the news. While a simple concept, it would appear, we had to use examples of how these teams were applicable to what we were learning in class. Furthermore, how many examples of sports team can one really be expected to tolerate….said the day one of class version of myself. On the last day of class Professor DeChurch assured us that we would never look at teams again the same way. This is so true.

Teams don’t just play sports and excellent examples are plentiful when looking at things with a different lens. The first realization is accepting that many people misuse the word “team” when it is a group.  J.R. Katzenbach and D. K. Smith describe the definition of a team in the 2005 Harvard Business Review article, The Discipline of Teams, as “a small number of people with complimentary skills who are committed to a common purpose, set of performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable”(p. 39).

While savoring those closing two numbers, I looked at the standing-room-only crowd and it became clear to me that Ambassadors to Earth are such a team. Their support for each other and affinity for what they do resonated throughout the show and served as the foundation of positivity and success of everyone who joined them on the stage throughout the evening. Their strength as a team provided the glue to make that evening a spectacular one.

Lauren Rein
MSC Class of 2017

It’s been an action-packed three months, to say the least. I’ve started and completed a quarter of my MSC degree at Northwestern. In that same period of time, my company has moved offices (just two floors, but it’s a thing!). My yoga practice has suffered. Winter wasn’t coming and then it arrived without ringing the doorbell. As if in deep empathy to all of this, my Mini Cooper refused to purr to life two cold nights ago. Could it be, like me, on a well-deserved holiday break?

In my last blog entry I promised some key takeaways from my elective, Foundations of Strategic Communication Management with Professor Randy Iden. Here are a holiday handful (including a few inside jokes–take the class to collect them all!):

• To be “boundaryless” as an organization is to tear down hierarchical and horizontal walls (horizontal walls?) only to build them up again when no one’s doing their real job, or everyone’s trying to do everyone else’s job. Managers: If you want to move walls at your whim, call them “fences” so it seems fairer. (I like to picture picket fences.)
• PR can and will do basically want it wants to optimize a business image, but it would be wise to consider it at least feigning to be dialogic. It gets you brownie points, especially in today’s feedback economy.
• Being dialogic (talking and listening) makes you vulnerable. That’s why we must force ourselves to do it intentionally, like yogic breathwork. What if they say something you don’t want to hear?! What if they say it so loudly that other stakeholders (employees, shareholders, customers) hear it, and start throwing in their two cents (or cashing out their stock)?
• Now that everyone (except for Trader Joe’s and its delicious Cookie Butter) is on social media and thus totally beholden to responding to incidents instantaneously, it’s painful but pragmatic to consider your brand in a state of “permanent crisis.” Now you can staff for it!

Quips aside, I learned a lot in my first quarter of the MSC program–and I’m excited to get back into the routine after holiday break. To my wonderful cohort (many of whom I’ll see tonight at our program party), cheers! To my husband, friends, and incredibly patient two cats: buckle up. You’ve got my undivided attention for the next three weeks.

Jennifer Lindner

MSC Class of 2017

I was late to the party that is Scandal. Over the summer, I watched five episodes of Olivia Pope expertly turn crisis situations around before I gave up. All said and done, it pepped me up to learn about the world of crisis communication in my elective, Foundations of Strategic Communication Management.

There is a whole science to handling public crises completely unbeknownst to the average Joe.  It requires an intricate mix of strategic communication, audience vetting and medium management.  There are a myriad of concepts to consider: Instructing information, adjusting information, reputation repair, secondary crisis communication, crisis reaction, etc.  It’s no simple task, certainly, and it seems to take a special sort of skill. Of course, in line with all preconceptions about the communications and media field, you can’t help but wonder whether it is really for public pacification or for self-preservation. Perhaps, it varies under different circumstances but exploring the literature behind it definitely helps create a different perspective.

While we often connect crisis communication to corporates, the field also encapsulates other phenomena. For example, earlier this month, Bermuda—yes, the entire country—won four elite British awards for fighting to eliminate its label as a tax haven.  Similarly, Panama also hired a crisis communication firm to weather the storm in the aftermath of the Panama Papers leak.  Public information about natural disasters also comes under the umbrella of crisis communication–who would have thought?

While the work of crisis communicators naturally comes under scrutiny, it is fascinating to see the breadth of their work and the different opportunities that emerge. At the end of the day, whether it is self-preservation or genuinely public pacification, we all do rely on crisis communicators to let us know, in some small way, that everything will be okay.

Madhurya Manohar
MSC Class of 2017

“Strategic communication.” Eight weeks ago, my mental picture of this concept was some amusing hybrid of Will Ferrell’s George W. Bush impersonation (“strate…gery”) and that Seinfeld episode where George
Costanza is forced by his boss to back up his mastery of “risk management” (and so turns to a book on tape for help). I’ve learned a lot since then, but my Buzzfeedy brain hasn’t been completely rewired. Professor Randy Iden gets the inherent hilarity of the academic vocab—and loves Larry David enterprises, too. We talk Seinfeld. We talk Curb Your Enthusiasm.

So, what is strategic communication? In this writer’s opinion, strategic communication is not just a C-suite euphemism for pushy business talk, but a pervasive phenomenon you’ll see throughout your organization at every level. In fact, I guarantee you use it, too. If you’ve ever omitted information to spare feelings, hung your hat a bit con-ven-ient-ly on a company mission statement, or walked employees or colleagues through anything new or uncomfortable using really careful language—well, you’ve been a tad strategic, haven’t you? Don’t feel too guilty. Strategic communication, while it has an acknowledged dark side (commonly identified as bold-faced lying!), is often hugely necessary even when it’s a maybe little evil. It can often do a lot of good for an organization (or maybe just your own work welfare).

Now that I’ve convinced you that you need this product, stay tuned for my next blog entry: a list of concepts I’ve learned in class, translated into (basically) conversational language. If this week’s political climes have you dreading Thanksgiving dinner conversation as much as I am, then I hope these grab-and-go conversation-starters (like “so, what’s the deal with airplane peanuts…and boundaryless organizations?”) will serve us all well. Otherwise, just be strategic and bring really chewy stuffing.