Initially, the school turned to the crisis
management company, Firestorm Solutions, LLC. According to school records,
Firestorm helped monitor and answer press questions, as well as monitor the
call center. But Firestorm’s activities were much more extensive. School
records show that Firestorm “assisted with communication messaging strategy and
media relations, (as well as) ongoing strategy development and implementation.”
Firestorm did such things as monitor the media “for pertinent information
regarding prime issues at hand.” The company helped prepare school personnel
for news conferences and to develop a crisis management strategy.
Firestorm also drafted a document called
“Forward to the Future,” which might have been the catalyst for the
University’s slogan “Invent the Future.” In other words, Firestorm was central
to the initial stages of building a strategy to deal with the crisis.
In an August 16, 2007 memorandum from Kay
Heidbreder, the university counsel, to James Dunlap, the university’s associate
director of purchasing, Heidreder requested that the university pay Firestorm
$150,000 for ten days of work. The school employed Firestorm April 19-29, 2007,
because “Virginia Tech was inundated with press requests immediately following
the events [the April 16 shootings]. Virginia Tech did not have the resources
to meet information needs.” Heidbreder also asserted that “because of the
emergent circumstances, there was no time to bid for necessary assistance nor
was any other competitive method practicable. Once the media crisis abated,
University Relations terminated its relationship with Firestorm.”
Three days earlier, on August 13, 2007, Larry
Hincker (Associate Vice President, University Relations) sent a memo to Ellen
Douglas, the university’s Assistant Director Risk Management, explaining the
bill. According to Hincker, “It was our understanding that this would be a
combination pro-bono and for-pay services. The pace of the recovery and
response was incredibly hectic and while the university legal counsel attempted
to negotiate a contract, it was never signed by the time we dismissed the firm
on April 29.”
Hincker then wrote, “As you can see from the
email note from Kim O’Rouke to Larry Hincker and Kay Heidbreder of Tuesday,
August 7, President Steger has approved to pay this bill from state funds.”
Issuing a no-bid contract in the wake of
Cho’s rampage is understandable; not having the contract signed is
indefensible. For the university’s counsel and legal staff to take the word of
a board member that Firestorm’s service would in part be pro bono, goes beyond
naïve. Nothing is legally binding unless it is in a signed contract. The
university’s willingness to accept the word of a board member borders on incompetence,
particularly when you consider that such a legal agreement would have been
pretty much a boiler plate contract that the university or Firestorm should
have had on hand. The university was initially hit with a bill for nearly
$193,000. The bill ended up being negotiated down to $150,000 and, as noted
above, President Steger personally authorized its payment out of state funds.
Let’s take a look at how this money was
spent. An itemized expense account for Firestorm amounting to $10,649.41 includes
$438.80 for a cancelled air ticket, another $125.55 for a cancelled hotel
reservation, and $374.80 for yet another cancelled air ticket. Now, let’s look
at the hourly rates paid to Firestorm team members. The “principal” team member
worked 115 hours at $450 an hour for a total of $51,750. The “preaction
architect” (whatever that is), worked 107.5 hours at $150 an hour for a total
of $16,125. A “research assistant” worked 7.5 hours at $100 an hour for $750,
and finally, an “executive assistant” worked 6 hours at $75 an hour for a total
of $300. The grand total was $68,925, discounted by 20 percent for a final bill
of $55,140.
Firestorm employed the law firm of Blank
Rome, LLP for not only advice on legal matters such as sovereign immunity, but
to draft and help coordinate media strategy, as well as give advice on a
potential press Web site. Part of Firestorm’s fee went to pay the law firm
$36,874.50. Blank Rome worked five days, from April 23 to 28.
Firestorm also brought in Dr. Ralph Diner, a
psychologist with a background in Behavioral Medicine, including treatment of
grief and trauma. He was employed from April 26 to May 7. His last four days
were done free of charge. For six days of work, however, he was paid $12,000.
Diner’s invoice is in many respects the worst indictment of the school’s poor
treatment of the families. Diner is a nationally recognize grief counselor, yet
his invoice indicates he met with only two
mothers of the victims.
His invoice lists counseling several staff
members, meetings with department heads, a tour of the campus, “discussed
stress and press with the police and security,” and went to the bookstore where
he counseled with staff regarding their families’ reactions to the events. His
invoice contains a cryptic entry stating that he “met with Larry (Hincker) and
was informed about the HR results and agreed to discontinue my involvement.”
The documents detailing Diner’s
responsibilities at Virginia Tech show that his expertise was not used to
counsel victims or their families, except in two cases. The official documents
clearly demonstrate Diner’s expertise was used for the benefit of the school,
its staff, and its faculty.
Dr. Diner declined to be interviewed when I
wrote my book on the Virginia Tech massacre, and Firestorm never responded to a
certified letter I sent requesting an interview.
If you remember, Heidbreder wrote, “Once the
media crisis abated, University Relations terminated its relationship with
Firestorm.” In fact, the media crisis was not over by April 29, 2007 when
Firestorm was let go. Cho’s rampage was still a major story and the media was
still asking pointed questions about Virginia Tech’s actions before, during,
and after April 16th. The crisis was becoming more serious because
of the nature of the questions being asked about Tech’s actions. In that sense
the crisis was growing—not abating.
Firestorm’s ties to Virginia Tech, then,
lasted a scant 10 days. The shootings had struck a deep and responsive chord
everywhere in the United States—and abroad. People wanted answers and
explanations. The school was under a microscope and something needed to be done
to explain Tech’s embarrassing actions and inactions. Apparently Firestorm was
not big enough to handle the enormity of negative publicity.
Virginia Tech needed a company with a history
of handling, managing, and manipulating evidence; a firm that could twist the
crisis to Virginia Tech’s benefit or at least minimize the widespread and
growing criticism of the Steger administration.
The trick would be to come up with a public
line that would make the school’s administration a victim, a line that was
plausible and played to the emotions of the school’s alumni and financial
contributors. For that, Tech would need experts
to help metastasize the deceit—Bursen-Marsteller. (To be continued)
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