WKU News

Public Relations Capstone Projects Earn Top Awards From PRSA Nashville For Sixth Consecutive Year

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (May 1, 2018)  –  Three WKU student teams of public relations majors earned Parthenon Awards at the 32nd annual competition in Nashville, Tenn., on Monday evening, April 30, at the Country Music Hall of Fame. This year’s awards marked the sixth consecutive year for public relations seniors to earn the Parthenon Award distinction.

In their 2017 senior capstone class, the 13 students, now WKU graduates, implemented awareness campaigns for The Campaign to Change Direction and Give an Hour, two national programs focused on evolving perceptions surrounding mental health. The capstone projects were developed as part of the Public Relations Student Society of America’s (PRSSA) Bateman Case Study Competition.

“It was a pleasure to share these victories with recent PR graduates as they learned of this distinction for their hard work,” said Department of Communication Head Helen Sterk, Ph.D. “Faculty as well as students appreciate the feedback from professionals who judged the entries as an important factor in student learning.”

Award winners and hometowns include:

Stuart Cook (Beaver Dam), Samantha Tabor (Burna), Alexus Richardson (Louisville), and Kaitlyn Doehring (Newburgh, Ind.) implemented the Pass A Smile Campaign raising awareness on the signs of mental and emotional issues among college honors students.

Curtis Edge (Owensboro), Madison Keller, (Louisville), Kelci McDaniel (Sellersburg, Ind.), Benjamin Nally (Bowling Green) and Sophie Trent (Dunwoody, Ga.) crafted a localized campaign, Five Signs on the Hill, focused on WKU student residents in Barnes Campbell and Bemis Lawrence dorms by changing opinions about common mental health/emotional issues.  

Anthony Piedmonte (Goshen), Georgia O’Connell (Louisville), Cheyenne Douglas (Roswell, Ga.) and Meagan Hash (Franklin, Ind.) developed an awareness project, Campaign to Change the Direction of Frowns, which targeted collegiate Greek organizations and raised awareness via events, informational materials and social media.

The annual Parthenon Awards, sponsored by the Nashville chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), acknowledges excellence for public relations programs and projects. Public relations professionals from other PRSA chapters evaluate the entries based on quality of research, creativity and accuracy in strategic planning, effective execution, evaluation efforts, and appropriateness for desired target audience.

For further information, contact WKU Associate Professor Vicki Bagwell at (270) 745-5834.

PRSA is the world’s largest organization for public relations professionals and serves as the parent organization for the students’ PRSSA organization. PRSA Nashville has more than 187 active members. For additional information on PRSA Nashville, visit https://www.prsanashville.com.