KINGSTON R.I. – May 2, 2017 – The University of Rhode Island’s Harrington School of Communication and Media honored 12 students March 22 at its annual Public Relations Excellence Award Ceremony. The awards were presented in the following categories: community impact, campus involvement, leadership, global impact, most innovative and outstanding internship.
This year’s honorary chair was URI alumna Laura Shubel, ‘15, a double major in public relations and French graduated from URI in 2015. She distinguished herself in an internship at the Alliance Française of Providence where she quickly progressed and finally planned the organization’s very first event. Shubel is now a senior account coordinator at Caster Communications. But she has not forgotten URI. She teaches in URI’s Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures. She visits several classes during the year to share her professional experience with public relations students.
This year’s award winners are:
Leadership : Colin Rumbel, Mansfield, Mass. Rumbel was nominated for the award by nursing major Shannon McIsaac, who met him when he was a peer mentor at the Leadership Institute. McIsaac was impressed with Rumbel’s confidence and approachability. Her second encounter with him in his role as a teaching assistant for the leadership studies course, only confirmed this impression.
Leadership Global Impact: Bridget Burke, Scituate, Mass. Burke’s initiative and skill in relationship-building were central to this award. Burke took the initiative to contact Elizabeth Windram, the head of public relations at JetBlue via Twitter and they now frequently exchange emails. She also contacted Ed Kinney, the head of public relations for Marriott Vacations Worldwide and had an informational interview with him that resulted in Kinney being interested in URI’s School of Harrington. That encounter opened new opportunities for other public relations students. Burke also created the Harrington School Undergraduate Advisory Council that allows public relations majors to make suggestions to to the program.
Leadership Most Innovative: Emily Miller, Uxbridge, Mass. Fellow recipient, Lance Faria, nominated Miller for this award for her involvement in class and her willingness to help other students. Miller and Faria are participating in an internship with the College of Pharmacy. Their mission is to promote a drug awareness initiative in Rhode Island middle schools. They successfully created a social media plan to promote the initiative.
Most Innovative: Jeff DiRocco, Providence. DiRocco grew up in the family business, DiRocco Landscape, and started working there when he was 10. He has been groomed to assume a leadership role in the company ever since. DiRocco meets with customers, negotiates contracts, manages payrolls, and has a crew of 10 people reporting to him. DiRocco thinks it’s a matter of “people skills” and really gets excited when people want to go to work every day.
Community Impact: Timothy MacKenzie, Dubai. As a resident advisor in Coddington Hall, students turn to MacKenzie for advice, but he does even more for the community at URI. He is also the public relations officer at Alpha Phi Omega, a co-educational national service organization that provides opportunities to develop leadership skills through service projects at URI and in the local community. MacKenzie contributed to many projects, the latest being South County Habitat for Humanity. In all of his responsibilities, MacKenzie’s approach is to “lead by example.”
Campus Involvement: Shawn Antoine, New York, N.Y. If you are looking for a an involved student at URI, you will have trouble finding one more involved than Antoine. Antoine volunteered in the Exceptional Children’s Program, he has been a student coordinator for the past three years for the “Be the Match Bone Marrow Donor Program” at URI, volunteered at the GOTI International Foundation that vaccinates children in developing countries, and he is a member of the URI Center for Nonviolence & Peace Studies. In addition, he is member of the URI football team. Antoine created his own film-making company, and some of his works have been selected for the Amazon Underground Film Festival and the New Haven Docs Film Festival for example.
Lance Faria, Riverside, R.I. Faria is involved in URI’s campus life, especially through his role as a resident advisor in Hillside Hall. He listens to students, their concerns and deals with whatever crisis might occur. Faria is also a member of the Student Entertainment Committee and of Kappa Psi Pharmaceutical Fraternity. He is participating in an internship at the College of Pharmacy.
Outstanding Internship : Miranda Luce, Wrentham, Mass. Luce decided to develop her skills in public relations and business, and gain work experience by participating in internships. She was the marketing and social media intern twice for the Winter J Term at URI. She managed the program’s social media platform while creating original content to reach target audiences. Luce was also an intern with Precision Effect, a pharmaceutical and health care advertising agency in Boston. She took part in market research, provided support to the creative team and collaborated with fellow interns to produce marketing materials.
Rebecca Snell, Narragansett, R.I. For her internship, Snell was a promotions director at 95.5 WBRU radio station. She advanced the brand and awarded tickets to shows. She applied her classroom knowledge to real-world situations.
James Fiske, Exeter, R.I. Fiske was initially a promotions intern at 95.5 WBRU for 10 months before being promoted to the position of events manager. He spent 15 months supervising various promotional events and concerts. While managing a team of more than 12 interns. James was responsible planning and executing events. He worked with nationally recognized bands such as Panic! at the Disco.
David St. Amant, Warwick, R.I. Goodwill was in need of a marketing help and asked the University of Rhode Island for assistance. St. Amant was URI’s choice. He had three tasks: rebrand the social media presence, create a template for the agency’s newsletter and reach out to potential partners. St. Amant’s excellent work led to an increase in sales for Goodwill Industries, which translates into more funds for its job training for people with disabilities and other barriers to employment.
Sarah Saltiel-Ragot, an international student from Sciences Po Rennes in France and an intern in URI’s Department of Marketing and Communications, wrote this press release.