University of Mississippi public relations students and recent graduates swept the Public Relations Association of Mississippi student competition, winning 16 of the 19 awards presented for PR projects. They include (front row, from left) Hayden Benge, Chloe Parrish, Maggie Crouch, senior lecturer Robin Street, Anna Bess Pavlakovich and Aleka Battista; (second row) Samantha Metz, Calyn Hoerner, Kendall Patterson, Hailey McKee, Holly Lasker and Ally Langston; and (third row) Davis Roberts and Melanie Wierzbicki. Photo courtesy Stan O’Dell
OXFORD, Miss. – University of Mississippi public relations students swept the awards in the recent Public Relations Association of Mississippi student competition, including one student being named the state’s Outstanding PR Student.
Students and recent graduates from the School of Journalism and New Media won 16 of the 19 student awards presented for public relations projects April 12 at the PRAM state conference in Vicksburg.
In addition, Davis Roberts, an integrated marketing communications major from Grenada, was named Outstanding PR Student in Mississippi. He was selected from 13 nominees from across the state for the award that includes a $500 scholarship. Journalism major Hailey McKee and IMC major Hayden Benge also were recognized as nominees for the award.
For the competition for PR projects, students entered public relations campaigns they produced in senior lecturer Robin Street’s advanced PR class during 2018. Each student created a campaign to increase awareness or change opinion on a topic of their choice.
“Today’s communication specialists require skills in research and planning, as well as in all forms of communication including writing, designing, photography, video, social media and website creation,” Street said. “These students demonstrated that they excel in this diverse skill set.
“Their awards are a tribute to the preparation they received from all the faculty members at the School of Journalism and New Media.”
Topics for the submitted projects included prescription drug abuse, the detrimental effects of loneliness, the importance of registering to vote, equal pay for women, eating disorders in men, sex trafficking, suicide prevention, the physical and emotional health benefits of having a pet, the dangers of e-cigarette use, autism, and the dangers of bullying among teenagers.
Robin Street (right) senior lecturer in the UM School of Journalism and New Media, congratulates Davis Roberts, an integrated marketing communications major from Grenada who was selected as Outstanding PR Student by the Public Relations Association of Mississippi. Photo courtesy Stan O’Dell
Each campaign required multiple aspects, including writing news articles, shooting video and photos, planning creative events, conducting research, and creating online and social media posts.
Comments from the judges, who remain anonymous, on the students’ entries included “solid research and planning,” “very thorough and impressive,” “exceptional,” “very creative,” “comprehensive and well done,” “thoughtful campaign to bring awareness and assistance to a difficult topic” and “creative and thought-provoking.”
Matt Martin, PRAM vice president for awards, commended the students’ entries.
“The award-winning work submitted by the students of the University of Mississippi is notable for its creativity and solid understanding and use of the public relations process,” Martin said. “While their awards will add stars to their resume, it’s their mastery of these fundamentals that will lead to successful careers as PR practitioners.”
Multiple students can win in the same category if they earn the required number of points as scored by the judges. No awards were given in the highest category, called the Prism. The Excellence Award is the next highest award, followed by the Merit Award.
Winning Excellence Awards were Benge, of Tulsa, Oklahoma; Calyn Hoerner, an IMC graduate from Houston; Holly Lasker, an IMC major from Seattle; and McKee, from Dyersburg, Tennessee. Street also won an Award of Excellence in the professional media writing category.
Winning Merit awards were Aleka Battista, an IMC graduate from Tupelo; Barrett Climer, an IMC graduate from Jackson; Maggie Crouch, a journalism major from Westmont, Illinois; Caroline Hewitt, a journalism graduate from Covington, Louisiana; Ally Langston, a journalism major from Dallas; Samantha Taylor Metz, a marketing and corporate relations major from Hernando; Chloe Parrish, an IMC graduate student from Germantown, Tennessee; Kendall Patterson, a journalism major from Corinth; Anna Bess Pavlakovich, a journalism major from Denver; Roberts; Madison Stewart, an IMC graduate from Dallas; and Melanie Wierzbicki, a double major in Spanish and marketing and corporate relations from Waxhaw, North Carolina.
For more information on the School of Journalism and New Media, visit http://jnm.olemiss.edu/.