A university president's preparation for a crisis is paramount to the wellbeing of a campus community and ultimately to the longevity of their tenure as the institution's leader. How do university leaders determine what constitutes a crisis for their institution, and once that decision has been made, whether or not to respond, and further, how to respond? This research, through critical discourse analysis, explores the responses of four U.S. university leaders to the 'Unite the Right' white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA, in 2017. Findings indicate that while most participants did not consider these events to be a crisis for their campuses, many of them published communications denouncing the values on display during and after the rally and offer assurances of unity and safety for their communities. These findings provide implications for the development of educational leaders to include training in crisis leadership.