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Public Relations
Student Society
of America
NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nov. 5, 2013
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Erin Kenna
Public relations director
Phone: 228.217.7693
Email: erinmkenna@gmail.com
PRSSA at LSU Chapter and members recognized with five national awards
Baton Rouge, La.— PRSSA at LSU walked away from the PRSSA 2013 National Conference with five
national awards. The Chapter was recognized as a Star Chapter for the 2012-13 academic year, received
the PRSSA Dr. F.H. Teahan Chapter Diversity Award, two executive board members won President’s
Citation awards, and a student was awarded the PRSA Diversity Multicultural Scholarship.
The conference took place between October 25- 29 in Philadelphia, Pa. Fourteen members of
PRSSA at LSU attended the conference.
The last year’s hard work paid off at the conference. Throughout the 2012-13 academic year,
PRSSA at LSU experienced a complete rebranding. The process included a restructuring of PRSSA's
constitution, general procedures, programming, newsletter, website/blog, social media presence and
fundraising efforts. The Chapter history was also archived to ensure a proper leadership transition for
future executive board members. These efforts led to the awarding of Star Chapter, which was only
received by 27 of more than 300 PRSSA Chapters across the nation.
The Star Chapter Award requires that a Chapter meet eight out of 10 criteria established by
PRSSA National. Two blog posts written by Chapter members were published in PRogressions, a team of
six Chapter members placed second in the College Duck Tape Mini-Competition for creating and
implementing a strategic public relations campaign to raise awareness about College Duck Tape on
campus, the Chapter participated in the PRSSA National Community Service Initiative by hosting a
“card-making luncheon” for members to send to the UCSF Medical Center in San Francisco, Calif., and

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many other initiatives were met through the efforts of PRSSA at LSU Chapter members. In total PRSSA
at LSU completed nine out of 10 initiatives.
"We worked so hard last year to rebrand our Chapter, so receiving the Star Chapter Award was
truly an honor,” said Weber, PRSSA at LSU Chapter President. “It definitely makes what I and the
remaining e-board members do every day worth it. We strive to continue strengthening our Chapter by
implementing the National initiatives — such as service, diversity and professional development — so
that we can earn the award again in the future."
The 2013 PRSSA Dr. F.H. Teahan Chapter Diversity Award recognized PRSSA at LSU's strong
commitment to spreading awareness about diversity. The award represents the hard work of the diversity
committee and the Chapter as a whole. The committee conducted a geographic and demographic survey,
hosted a “Micro-aggression Toward Women” Twitter chat during Women’s History Month, created a
Diversity of Thought campaign, and partnered with PRSSA at LSU community service committee to
volunteer with Baton Rouge Special Olympics events among other initiatives. Emily Beck, the current
PRSSA at LSU vice president and last year’s diversity committee head, received the award on behalf of
PRSSA at LSU and the 2012-13 PRSSA at LSU diversity committee.
“One of PRSA's main initiatives is to incorporate diversity in all aspects of public relations. We
felt that bringing this same initiative into our Chapter was imperative, and we were able to gain
outstanding knowledge on the subject from PRSA Diversity Committee Chair Brandi Boatner. She not
only inspired us, but she was available every step of the way to ensure we were effectively spreading the
message on the various aspects of diversity that people often forget,” said Beck.
President’s Citation awards were presented to Mallory Richardson (2012-2013 Chapter President)
and Paige Weber (2013-2014 Chapter President) for their outstanding leadership and professional skills
within PRSSA. This award is presented to PRSSA members who are active on both the Chapter and
National levels of PRSSA.
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PRSSA at LSU
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“I am extremely honored and humbled to receive this award,” said Richardson, the PRSSA
National publications editor in chief. “It's a great feeling to know that the efforts to rebrand our Chapter
last year did not go unnoticed.”
The PRSA Diversity Multicultural Scholarship was awarded to Cyone Batiste, co-director of
PRSSA at LSU’s student-run firm, ImPRint Communications. The award honors men and women for
their outstanding academic achievement and commitment to the practice of public relations. Batiste was
chosen due to her GPA and an essay elaborating on why diversity matters in the public relations industry.
"I am very honored to have received this award and very thankful for all of my professors,
advisers and peers who have helped me get this far in my academic career," said Batiste.
During the national conference Beck and Weber led a session on diversity that used imagery and
quotes from Beyoncé Knowles to portray to session attendees how exciting diversity could be.
“Diversity is a topic that many individuals often bypass, but we want to encourage students to
become more knowledgeable on the subject matter and share the true meaning of diversity. Brandi
Boatner expressed the idea that diversity does not stop at race or ethnicity, which was our main focus,”
said Beck.
PRSSA at LSU was also awarded the Love Purple, Live Gold Most Outstanding
Multicultural/Diversity Program from Campus Life at LSU in spring 2013.
PRSSA at LSU is a pre-professional organization that allows members to network and gain insight from
leading professionals around Louisiana. It is one of more than 300 chapters of PRSSA National. For more
information about the organization, visit www.prssalsu.com.
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