3rd Year Hon. Mention: Drilling to the Root of the Problem: Dalhousie University’s Facebook Crisis

WRIT 3010, Practical Studies in Damage Control. CD: Jon Sufrin.

Abstract

In this insightful and beautifully written account of Dalhousie University’s response to misogynist Facebook posts from a group of male dentistry students, the author analyses the university’s successful use of innovative damage control strategies.  The author unfolds the story in a detailed yet compelling way engaging the reader in the methods the university leadership used to not only repair the institution’s image but also to establish a new more encompassing culture.  By integrating relevant theoretical concepts into the paper and by clearly articulating the consequences, the author convincingly demonstrates that by using unconventional methods, including restorative measures and admitting to the underlying culture of misogyny, Dalhousie not merely regained, but effectively enhanced, its reputation.  This is an exceptionally well-crafted, thoroughly researched and wonderfully lucid account of an all too familiar contemporary issue.