The Syracuse University chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) has been honored with the 2020 National PRSSA Star Chapter Award. The award recognizes chapters that have provided programming and relationship-building opportunities for students.
The Syracuse chapter, based at the Newhouse School, was headed up by chapter president and PR student Anna Army for the 2019-20 academic year.
During that time, the chapter established the position of vice president of community relations, which enhanced the chapter’s relationship with the Central New York chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA-CNY). The vice president of community relations attended PRSA-CNY board meetings and invited board members to chapter events on campus.
Last fall, the chapter hosted Sean Greenwood, director of PR and communications for Ben & Jerry’s, and PR alumnus Cedric Brown G’17, then digital campaigns strategist with the Advancement Project. The pair discussed their work on the “Justice ReMix’d” campaign and shared their thoughts on corporate response to social issues.
The chapter also hosted PR alumna Allison Rube ’13, then senior manager of MTV brand partnerships with ViacomCBS, in an event open to all students.
In addition, Army, along with students Riva Goldberg and Lindsey Godbout, attended the PRSA/PRSSA 2019 International Conference in San Diego.
Public relations professor of practice Brad Horn serves as chapter adviser. “Our student leaders, guided by Anna Army, set a goal to earn national recognition for our PRSSA chapter in 2019-20, and by every measure, they were a success,” says Horn. “Passion drives our PR students, and this honor reflects the drive for excellence for the more than 100 PRSSA members within our chapter.”