Drake student publications won three Pacemaker awards at the recent Associated Collegiate Press conference in Washington, D.C.

Drake Magazine won a magazine Pacemaker;  DrakeMag.com  and Urban Plains won online Pacemakers. Only two other schools, University of Miami and University of Oregon, won three Pacemakers. The Pacemakers are the top collegiate journalism awards in the country. Drake Magazine is a student extracurricular activity, while Urban Plains is the multimedia senior capstone project for the magazine, news and electronic media majors.

In addition, Susanna Hayward, JO’16, won third place for design of the year for her cover for Drake Magazine. Senior Molly Longman won fifth place for diversity story.

Hayward was also a finalist in two other design categories, and Cole Norum, JO’16, was a finalist for feature writing.

Drake shines at PRSA local and international conferences

Drake students, alumni, and faculty were stars of the recent Central Iowa Public Relations Society of America PRIME Awards. Drake students and faculty also were on stage a few days later during presentations at the PRSA International Conference in Indianapolis.

The PRIME Awards won by Drake faculty, students and alums:
Professor Kelly Bruhn—Outstanding Public Relations Professional

Madison McConnell—Outstanding Student Member

Morgan Dezenski, Rachel Dupree, Meghan Jones, Katie Ramsey,

Emily Sadecki, Shelby Van Slooten (2016 graduates)—Community Champion Merit Award for PR capstone campaign “Putting Manning on the Map”

Ali Felsenthal, Adam Graves, Hope Waggoner, Jenna Sheldon, Courtney Fishman, Rebecca Brown, Kelsey Rooney (2016 graduates)—Student Excellence Award for PR capstone campaign “SNAP PR: A Community that Cares”

Cassie Driskell, Cara Regan, Alyssa Zipperer, Megan Auren, Emma Frederick, Ashley Beall, Brennan Haymond (2016 graduates)—Student Merit Award for PR capstone campaign “Compass PR: Manning Navigation Guide”

Taylor Rookaird, JO’15, who works at Strategic America, was named Outstanding New Member. SJMC alumni Emily Reis Abbas, chief marketing officer for Bankers Trust, and Kevin Waetke, vice president of communications at the National Pork Board, also received awards for their work.

Professors Bruhn and Jennifer Glover Konfrst presented at the PRSA International Conference, as did students Anna VanWaardhuisen, Madison McConnell, James Jolly, Megan Johns, and Savana Morrison.

—Kathleen Richardson, SJMC