Last week, I came across some information that deserves to be included in the conversation about Brandeis in the media: The recent hiring of Rasky Baerlein Strategic Communications, Inc. isn't the first time the University has looked to outside sources for help reclaiming its image.Brandeis chose to use a professional public relations firm, Dukas Public Relations in a delicate situation that was far less urgent. The University is not to blame for seeking external assistance in handling the press when much is at stake in this troubled economic era.

Last issue, I discussed the importance of "grabbing the attention of impressionable high school seniors" in light of the confusion and frustration that reached the press following the controversial closure of the Rose Art Museum. With its recent announcement of a plan to increase class size, this seemed like a practical task for the PR firm. The administration admitted that it did not foresee the degree to which its decision would upset so many people. Certainly, the amount of media attention this news received was unprecedented; the small, innocent Rose, sitting too often unvisited right in our own backyard, made it all the way to The New York Times' editorial page.

The student-organized Rose sit-in Jan. 29 convinced me that Brandeis must find a smart way to handle the press. The museum was packed with not only devoted students and faculty but also a number of journalists. Appropriately, the University employed a PR firm to deal with the overwhelming media attention. This important task is a primary function of the firm. Joe Baerlein, president of Rasky Baerlein, explained in the Feb. 10 issue of the Justice that over the last week the firm has mostly helped the University respond to national and international media requests about the Rose.

Vice President for Communications Lorna Miles said, "I've been working with [the firm] in terms of just the media questions with regard to the [Rose]."

Bear in mind that this isn't the first time Miles had to justify the University's employment of public relation. In May 2006, the University hired the New York-based Dukas firm. And just as the hiring of Rasky Baerlein followed the scandalous closing of the Rose, the hiring of Dukas followed numerous instances in which Brandeis failed to appear impartial amid Arab-Israeli dialogue, another controversy that reached the Boston Globe. According to the May 23, 2006 article in the Justice, President Richard Dukas had claimed that his firm planned to work on "publicity 'placements' for the University in major newspapers, specifically on publicizing its Jewish and Middle Eastern programs."

However, there is a distinction between these two cases: Whereas Baerlein said that his firm's Brandeis contract is characteristic of a "crisis assignment," Dukas said that his firm's focus was pure publicity.

Miles further claimed in an interview with the Justice at the time of Dukas' hiring that the purpose of the firm was not, in fact, "damage control," as seems to be the purpose of Rasky Baerlein.

Given today's unsteady economic ground, creating positive PR is an effective and appropriate solution. Defending the inevitable major change against current and prospective students and other members of the academic world will never be simple. If the University has previously deemed the professional PR firm an effective means to highlight the best aspects of Brandeis, then investing in the professional PR firm during today's economic crisis, at the very least, should certainly help assuage the negativity that will likely accompany the necessary changes the University must make. Brandeis has to establish the best possible connections with the press so that arbitrary rumors and misunderstandings don't alter people's perceptions of Brandeis. If the Rose debacle can be classified as a "crisis assignment," the use of PR is a sensible solution.