PR chapter wins sixth consecutive national award

Robby Poffenberger | Assistant News Editor | @robbypoff23

Of 334 nationwide chapters of the Public Relations Student Society of America, UVU’s was one of 31 recognized with the Star Chapter Award at the PRSSA National Convention on Nov. 6.

This is the sixth consecutive year UVU was awarded the honor. The chapter was also the only one in Utah or the intermountain West to win.

According to Stephen Whyte, associate professor and director of the Public Relations program at UVU, the award was given due to the students’ work this past year by meeting several development goals, which include community outreach and PRSSA participation.

The chapter was unsuccessful in earning the convention’s top prize, the Oustanding Chapter award, which was divvied out later in the conference to the University of Nebraska-Omaha.

Jon Kovach, vice president of events for UVUPRSSA and a senior, said he heard positive buzz about UVU’s PR program throughout the conference.

“Other chapters had said the kindest things about our chapter and how we were the most prepared chapter, and that we had our heads on our shoulders when it came to knowing how to attend conferences,” Kovach said.

He added that many people complimented UVU’s “swag”. While many schools brought custom lip balm, pens and ear buds to give out at the conference, UVU took another approach: They divvied out custom slap bracelets, adorning the hash tag #uvuPRcrew.

The convention featured keynote speeches and presentations from PR professionals across the country, including reps from Ford, General Motors, the Chicago Cubs and KIND Bars.