Tori Olker (left), a graduating senior, was named Outstanding PR Student by the Public Relations Association of Mississippi, as well as being awarded the Taylor Medal for the highest GPA in the Meek School of Journalism and New Media. Olker is congratulated by her nominating instructor, Robin Street. Photo by Stan O’Dell
OXFORD, Miss. – A University of Mississippi journalism student has been named Mississippi’s Outstanding PR Student by the Public Relations Association of Mississippi.
That award is just the latest of many for Tori Olker, a senior print journalism major with an emphasis in public relations. Olker was also awarded a Taylor Medal, the university’s highest academic honor, and posted the highest GPA in the university’s Meek School of Journalism and New Media.
She and team partner Victoria Lanza, of Richardson, Texas, also won first place in the Southeast Journalism Conference onsite public relations competition. Olker was named the Oxford-Ole Miss PRAM chapter’s Student of the Year and to Who’s Who and Kappa Tau Alpha Journalism Honorary Society.
“Winning the Outstanding PR Student award provided me with the validation that I am on the right track as a professional journalist, and it showed me how much I want to accomplish after graduation,” said Olker, from Spring Grove, Illinois. “I am extremely proud and humbled to have been selected among so many other college students.”
During her years at UM, she has worked in all aspects of media. She has been a disc jockey on Rebel Radio, a writer for the yearbook and a feature reporter for The Daily Mississippian. She has also completed several public relations and journalism internships.
The PRAM award, which includes a $250 scholarship, was presented April 8 at the organization’s state conference in Jackson. Public relations instructors at all Mississippi universities could nominate a student to compete for the award. Robin Street, a senior lecturer at UM, nominated Olker.
A panel of PR professionals selected the winner based on the nominating letter and on factors including academic excellence, honors, public relations activities, and campus and community involvement.
“I am in awe of Tori’s multiple accomplishments and activities,” Street said. “She truly is one of the most impressive students I have ever taught. She not only excels in the classroom, but in putting that classroom work into reality through her internships and part-time jobs.”
For more information on the Meek School of Journalism and New Media, visit http://meek.olemiss.edu.