The Brian Lamb School’s New Director of Online Programs Brings Decades of Crisis Communication Experience to The Virtual Classroom

In the high-stakes world of crisis communication, trust is key. Few people understand this as well as Matt Charles, the new online graduate program director in Purdue’s Brian Lamb School of Communication. His career as a crisis communicator has spanned decades – and in that time, he’s collected a lot of stories and learned a thing or two about building trust. From investigating horrific drug and sex crimes as a special investigator in New York City, to working at the University of Virginia during 2017’s deadly “Unite the Right” rally, to traveling to France and Japan to research global crisis response, Charles has seen the good, bad and ugly of crisis communication. He hopes everything he’s learned can help other professionals find their way.  

All these stories and more are detailed in Charles’ book, “Shit Show: An Unexpected Life in Crisis Management”, which offers anecdotes and advice to other communication professionals navigating the crisis communication field. In the book, Charles explains that he never expected to become a crisis communicator – he wanted to work for the FBI. But while serving as an investigator for New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services he realized that crises were happening all around him, and his department needed someone with communication expertise to help them respond to tragedy with precision and empathy. 

“In New York City I was investigating violent crimes involving children – just really heavy stuff,” Charles said. “I was put into a media role kind of on the fly, and that’s where it started. It opened up a whole new world for me.” 

From ACS to UVA: Managing Crises on a College Campus 

From there, Charles redirected his career from investigator to communication professional, eventually landing in Charlottesville, Virginia, where he got a job as director of media relations for the University of Virginia Darden School of Business – a homecoming for the UVA alumnus.  

“The job was heavy on proactive media relations and light on crisis,” Charles said. “But that changed when I assumed the role as UVA’s deputy spokesperson, a position created due to the unprecedented number of crises the University was enduring. 

The first crisis was a 2014 article published in Rolling Stone magazine detailing a violent sexual assault case that had allegedly occurred on UVA’s campus. The article quickly went viral, and UVA was caught in a public relations crisis, tasked with reassuring people on and off-campus that UVA was safe for female students. As it turns out, the article was based on false information and subsequently retracted, and Rolling Stone was sued for defamation. However, for Charles, this incident represented a shift in the way UVA approached crisis communication – having a proactive crisis plan was now at the forefront of their communication strategy.  

“I was doing 80% crisis communication and 20% other communication work that included community relations,” Charles said. “Things completely shifted.” 

A few years later, another crisis struck UVA’s campus, but this time the threat was credible. In August of 2017, a large group of white supremacists descended on downtown Charlottesville, carrying torches and confederate flags. The group was marching in response to the city of Charlottesville announcing they were removing a statue of confederate war general Robert E. Lee. This so-called “Unite the Right” rally angered Charlottesville’s citizens, who engaged in counter protests throughout the weekend. One of the protests turned deadly when activist Heather Hyer was struck by a car driven by a white supremacist. These events put UVA back in the spotlight, and once again highlighted the importance of proactive crisis communication and risk assessment. 

“UVA leadership taking too long to acknowledge Nazism and white nationalists/supremacists, instead identifying them as alt-right, was a risk,” Charles writes in Chapter 9 of “Shit Show”, which details UVA’s response to the rallies and gives Charles’ perspective on what he learned. “UVA stating the right to assembly by both sides came across as trying to strike a balance.”  

“You Have to Start by Listening:” Building Trust in Global Contexts 

Charles’ time at UVA gave him a strong foundation for understanding that establishing trust is a key component of navigating difficult conversations. He continued to build on this idea after he earned his doctorate and moved more into academic work and consulting. Most recently, he’s been working with international clients. According to Charles, traveling to Japan and experiencing the cultural differences that inform people’s communication patterns helped foreground the importance of trust – without trust, difficult conversations are over before they begin.  

Charles was also appointed a Fulbright Specialist and placed on their Communication and Journalism roster where he was paired with the Constitutional Court of Kosovo. Prior to the project being delayed, he worked with staff members via Zoom.  

“Interestingly, working with Kosovars felt the most like interacting with folks from the States,” Charles said. “However, this also could be because many of them earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in the U.S. It’s always important to understand an individual’s experiences because these can shape the person as much, if not more, than where they were born.” 

Supporting Online Learning in the Brian Lamb School 

Though Charles’ career as a crisis communicator has helped him build relationships with people across the globe, his next leap is focused on forging virtual connections. He’ll be managing online graduate programs in Purdue’s Brian Lamb School of Communication. Charles is no stranger to the world of online education – he’s been teaching classes online at various universities, including Purdue, for over ten years, and he even completed part of his doctorate online. For him, online learning represents another way to meet people where they are and give them the tools they need to succeed.  

“Trend-wise, a lot of people thought online education would sputter out after COVID,” Charles said. “But that hasn’t been the case – online education is really valued by students because it’s convenient, it allows them to keep working, and they can do it on their own terms to maintain work-life balance. People demand this, especially coming out of the pandemic.” 

From Charles’ perspective, online and in-person education go hand-in-hand, and he hopes to see the Brian Lamb School’s online programs grow side-by-side with their campus programs, offering the same quality and value that Purdue students expect. Charles started as a lecturer for the online Master of Science in Communication program, so he understands the importance of using his professional background to give students real-world experience in the areas they’re interested in. 

“In the online master’s program, people want hands-on experience,” Charles said. “They want media relations experience, crisis and digital communication experience, and of course AI is a hot topic right now.” 

Since Charles’ took over, the school’s online master’s program has announced some exciting updates, such as a new concentration in digital media and communication technology. Charles is excited for more growth, but he also thinks the Brian Lamb School’s online master’s and graduate certificates are already great models for all of Purdue’s online programs – by giving students access to renowned professionals and cutting-edge classes, these programs are making a world-class education more accessible than ever before. 

“The [online Master of Science in Communication] program is like a north star for the College of Liberal Arts,” Charles said. “And for Purdue as a whole.” 

Learn more about Purdue University’s online communication programs at the Brian Lamb School of Communication’s website.