Saving Face: How the University of Georgia Communicated During its 1961 Racial Integration Crisis and Maintained its Image through Stakeholder Management

Abstract

Few studies have explored higher education desegregation in the nation’s first state to charter a state-supported university, Georgia. The present study is the first to document the University’s racial integration communication with various stakeholder groups as well as the University’s public relations response and strategy. The study examines the University’s public relations function and the analysis shows how the public relations strategy was to save face when addressing issues raised by its stakeholder groups. The study’s findings demonstrate that the University employed public relations, communications and stakeholder management strategies to “save face” and maintain good rapport with external audiences.

Keyterms:

• crisis communication
• higher education
• public relations
• racial integration
• saving face
• stakeholder management
• University of Georgia