Have a good finals week and great winter break! See you in January!
— SJMC faculty and staff
Public relations students win national recognition
Two Drake public relations seniors were recognized at the recent PR News annual awards luncheon in Washington, D.C.
Maddy Gildersleeve was named PR News Student of the Year. The award recognizes “an outstanding student who has demonstrated leadership, talent and passion” for public relations and communications.
Sarah Mondello received honorable mention for PR News Intern of the Year for her work with Drake Community Press. The award recognizes a student who “established herself or himself quickly as a self-starting member and idea generator for a communications team and exhibited strong writing skills, professional demeanor [and] smart use of digital tactics.”
Students present work to community clients
Students in a variety of SJMC courses have presented their work to class clients in recent weeks.
The Master of Communication Leadership students in the applied theory and research class presented their research on the organization, brand recognition and community needs assessment to Best Buddies of Iowa, a nonprofit that serves children and adults with developmental disabilities. The students will also conduct work for Best Buddies in courses in the spring and summer.
The advertising account planning class presented their report to the capstone client Des Moines Menace soccer organization, as did the public relations seniors to their client, Creative Visions, which serves low-income residents in the Drake neighborhood. Those courses will work with their clients in the spring as well.
The PR Planning class presented work to their clients, Tutus & Tennis Shoes and The Avenues of Ingersoll and Grand. Students in PR Writing and FYS-The Real Hunger Games presented their collaborative work to five representatives of the DMARC food pantry network for their new initiative, Food Pantry 2.0.
Social Justice Living/Learning Community seeks members
The Social Justice Living/Learning Community is recruiting new members for 2018-19. This community has guaranteed housing together in Goodwin-Kirk and members take a one-hour course — Leadership for Social Change. They then apply that knowledge in their work in campus or community organizations. For more information contact Kara Strickler (kara.strickler@drake.edu) or Rachel Moeller (rachel.moeller@drake.edu).
Iowa Newspaper Foundation offers scholarships
The Iowa Newspaper Foundation offers scholarships for communications majors in a range of disciplines. Application deadline is Feb. 9, 2018. For more information, see https://inanews.com/foundation/scholarships/. Applications are also available on the table outside of Mer. 118.
SPJ awards contest open
The Society of Professional Journalists is now accepting entries for the Mark of Excellence awards, honoring the best in collegiate journalism. The contest has categories for newspaper, magazine, web, TV and radio entries. Deadline for submissions is Jan. 11, 2018.
Have a news item for the Memo?
The SJMC Monday Memo is a weekly newsletter to keep members of the wider SJMC community updated on School news, achievements, events and opportunities. If you have an item for the Memo, please send it to Dean Kathleen Richardson (kathleen.richardson@drake.edu) or SJMC webmaster and multimedia professor Chris Snider (christopher.snider@drake.edu). SJMC alums and other professionals can also contact Chris to have the Memo delivered via weekly email.
The School of Journalism and Mass Communication strives to create a community of scholars that represents the complexity of the human experience in regards to race, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, economic status, gender identification, religion, age and physical abilities. We are committed to creating a welcoming and supportive environment for all our faculty, staff, students and visitors, and celebrating our differences through the lens of the First Amendment value of freedom of expression.