In the News
Lowell Thomas Photo Exhibition Capping Event
On April 11, communication students Kellie Hayden, Vanessa Rannazzisi and Megan Warne hosted “A Lowell Thomas Photo Exhibition” and corresponding student photo contest in honor of Lowell Thomas’ 120th birthday. The students planned and hosted the event as their senior capping project working in collaboration with Marist Archives & Special Collections and Marist International Programs.
Marist students were able to submit landscape and human interest photographs for the exhibition and contest. Ten semi-finalists were selected from more than 350 photos and the winner was selected by a panel of three judges. Samantha Tobia, Philip Lopez and Anthony Figalora won first, second and third place, respectively, and were each awarded with $50 in Marist Money. Tobia will also receive any framed print of her choice from the Archives.
More than 100 students, faculty and administrators attended the exhibition in Lowell Thomas. Hayden, Rannazzisi and Warne thank everyone who participated and helped make this event a great success!
Photo caption: Tobia’s winning photo, “Buenos Aires News Reporter”
Marist Ad Club Participates in National Student Advertising Competition
The Marist Advertising Club recently competed in the American Advertising Federation (AAF) National Student Advertising competition. This year the team included students Kristin Conte, Larissa Gojdycz, Cassandra Izzo, Jacqueline King, Nicholas Piotti, Christopher Raia, Jahmani Sanders, Melissa Stivale, Kathryn Tomaino and Sean Kulper. Five students from this team presented at the competition, including Larissa Gojdycz, Christopher Raia, Jahmani Sanders, Kathryn Tomaino and Jacqueline King.
Since 1996 Marist has entered a team into AAF National Student Advertising Competition. Marist is a member of AAF District #2, which includes advertising programs in colleges and universities along the east coast. Every year a real client with a real marketing problem is the focus of the competition. This year’s client was Nissan.
At Marist the student work is accomplished sequentially in two classes, Capping and Advertising Seminar. After extensive research and critical analysis, students prepare a booklet detailing their strategic communication solution to the client's marketing problem. A five-member student team then presents the pitch to the judges.
Public Relations Professor Wins Faculty of the Year Award
Professor Jennie Donohue was recently named the 2011-2012 School of Communication and the Arts Faculty Member of the Year. This honor was awarded to Donohue by Marist’s Student Government Association. Students were able to nominate deserving faculty members for this award on the spring 2012 election ballot for SGA.
Donohue joined the full-time faculty at Marist College in the fall of 2010. She is an award-winning communication professional with more than two decades of industry experience. Among other responsibilities, she also serves as the faculty adviser to the college’s chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America.
Guest Speaker: Kelly Cutrone
Kelly Cutrone will be speaking at Marist on April 23 at 9:30 a.m. in the Nelly Goletti Theatre. The event is open to Marist students, 
faculty and staff.
Cutrone is a New York-based fashion publicist and judge on the popular reality television competition, “America’s Next Top Model.” A part-time Hudson Valley resident, Cutrone attended Marist’s “Creating Courage” event on Feb. 24 after receiving an invitation from the production team for the 26th Annual Silver Needle Fashion Show. The fashion program is excited to have Cutrone speak to students and is looking forward to working with her in the future.
Cutrone is the best-selling author of “If You Have to Cry, Go Outside: And Other Things Your Mother Never Told You” and “Normal Gets You Nowhere.” She is the founder of the public relations and marketing firm People’s Revolution.
Join the Facebook event at http://on.fb.me/INvMZX.
Sports Communication Students Place Second in National Case Study Competition
A team of four Marist College sports communication students placed second in this year's undergraduate case study competition held by the College Sports Research Institute (CSRI) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The case study presentation was held on Wednesday, April 18, as part of the institute's annual academic conference on intercollegiate athletics. Marist was announced the runner-up team Friday morning at the conference. Loras College placed first, while the University of Massachusetts placed third.
Marist competed against 14 teams from colleges and universities around the country. Marist's team consists of senior Brittney Garofolo, senior Luke Teitelbaum, sophomore Sarah Cordeiro – all sports communication majors -- and senior Patrick Dillon, a business major with a minor in sports communication. Both Garofolo and Teitelbaum were members of last year’s Marist team that won this competition.
Case study coordinator Dr. Coyte Cooper of the University of North Carolina noted the increased competitiveness and quality of student work in this year’s competition. He also mentioned a budding rivalry between Marist and Loras, who have combined to win the past three case study competitions.
Garofolo was pleased with the team’s result and overall effort.
"I think did a great job and really knew how to answer the judges’ questions,” said Garofolo. “Of course, we wanted to win, but placing second is still nice.”
Dillon noted that Marist was the only sports communication program competing largely against sports management schools.
"We have a little different orientation to our program, more focused on media, and the case study is a lot about sports management. So doing this well is a related area is really impressive, and it also makes us learn about new things.”
For the competition, teams had to successfully complete two parts of the case study project. First, they wrote and submitted in advance a written case study on revenues and expenses in Division I college athletics. Second, students gave a 10-minute presentation on the intended and unintended consequences of these finances in the current collegiate model prescribed by the NCAA.
Keith Strudler, director of the Marist College Center for Sports Communication and the team’s faculty advisor, is proud of the leadership each team member showed in doing this project.
“Beyond just finishing second, which is validating for them, I’m really impressed how everyone took ownership of the process,” said Strudler. “From research to data analysis to preparing their presentation, they all did everything proactively to do their best work.”
For more information about CSRI's case study competition, go to http://www.csriconference.org/case_study.html. For more information about the Marist College Center for Sports Communication, visit http://sportscomm.marist.edu.
Debate Team Competes at West Chester University of Pennsylvania
On March 2, the Marist Speech & Debate Team traveled to West Chester University of Pennsylvania for a two-day district competition. Senior Pamela Chomba (history/political science), senior Lauren Hall (English & psychology), sophomore Jasmine Guerine (communication-public relations) and sophomore Claire Mooney (political science) competed in the tournament.
Hall placed 7th in the impromptu speaking competition, while Mooney placed 6th in the persuasive speaking category. The team placed 6th overall.
Dr. Audra Diers is the adviser for the Marist Debate and Advocacy Society. The team travels to regional tournaments and participates in on-campus public speaking events. For more information, visit http://bit.ly/iYhjSU.
Congratulations to all participants!
Public Relations Professor Named to Board of Directors of Local Non-Profit
Jennie Donohue, professional lecturer of public relations, has been named to the board of directors of Sprout Creek Farm, Inc., a non-profit educational center, working farm and retail market based in Poughkeepsie.
While Donohue’s association with Sprout Creek Farm goes back several years, it was ultimately education that reconnected them. For 30 years Sprout Creek Farm has been dedicated to experiential education, using the farm as its classroom to help children and adults learn by doing. Donohue wanted to give her public relations students at Marist a similar hands-on learning opportunity; one that would allow them to gain real-world experience researching and writing media and marketing materials for a local non-profit client, specifically Sprout Creek Farm.
Marist Alumnus, Ian O’Connor, is Named Top 10 Columnist
Ian O’Connor, A 1986 graduate of Marist, has been named one of America's top 10 sports columnists by the prestigious Associated Press Sports Editors in its annual national writing contest. Ian is currently a columnist for ESPN, a radio host for ESPN New York, and author of two New York Times bestsellers, including "The Captain: The Journey of Derek Jeter." Ian has also been honored by the National Association of Black Journalists, the Golf Writers Association of America, the Football Writers of America and the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.
