MSU’s Department of Communication breaks records, netting unprecedented amounts of national, state, regional awards

MSU’s Department of Communication breaks records, netting unprecedented amounts of national, state, regional awards

Mississippi State University’s Department of Communication this spring broke department records for awards received in one year, continuing a trend of excellence in broadcasting, journalism, theatre, and public relations, and speech and debate.

Terry Likes, professor and head of the Department of Communication, said, “In 35 years of teaching, I have never seen numbers this high across the board. We set program records in several areas including 100 student media awards—20 national, 32 regional and 48 state awards. We garnered 24 state and regional public relations awards and have amassed 408 awards total this year.”

View full list of Mississippi Association of Broadcasting student winners in radio.

MAB Awards

In television, MSU students in the Department of Communication earned accolades for stories airing within the student television newscast, Take 30. Take 30 is part of the broadcast capstone course which simulates a day in the life of a TV newsroom. 

View full list of Mississippi Association Broadcasting winners in television.

MPA Awards

At the annual Mississippi Press Association O.C. McDavid Journalism Summit in March, more than two dozen MSU students won top honors, including “General Excellence” for the third year in a row for The Reflector, MSU’s student newspaper.

Reflector writers captured first place in General News Story, Feature Story, General News Photo, and General Interest Column. In addition to the first-place awards, the Reflector won 15 second and third-place awards. Bulldog Online Newsroom won one second-place award. 

View full list of Mississippi Press Association student winners.

Bailey & Foreman Photos

At the National Electronic Media Association competition in April, MSU Communication Instructor Victoria Helena Bailey won 1st place for her news report, “Amory Plant Layoffs.” Also, Bailey and Josh Foreman, a communication instructor, won 1st place in the production ‘other’ category for Story State 2022: Fostering Innovative Storytelling. At this event, MSU won two of the six professional/faculty categories.

At the 60th Annual National Undergraduate Student Electronic Media Competition this spring, MSU students won in a wide array of media categories. 

View full list of National Undergraduate Student Electronic Media Competition winners.

The MSU Speech and Debate Council, led by communication faculty member Cheryl Chambers and Brett Harvey, MSU’s Title IX/EEO director, garnered 209 awards this year, and 52 individual event (speech) honors, both annual record highs.

The team finished strong at the IPDA National Championship Tournament, hosted by Boise State University, taking home several sweepstakes awards, including third place season long sweeps and third place national tournament sweeps.

View full list of IPDA National Championship Tournament student winners.

The Speech Team this season earned 52 awards, including 14 first place awards, and earned seven invitations to the national tournament, a record for MSU. 

View full list of students who qualified at the AFA National Speech Tournament.

PRAM Awards

At the April Public Relations Association of Mississippi annual conference, MSU swept most categories, with MSU senior communication and philosophy major Zoie Henson from Philadelphia winning PRAM Student of the Year, and MSU senior communication major Reagan Young from Chelsea, AL, winning PRAM Outstanding PR Student.
Other PRAM awards include:

PRism Award: Improving Donor & Community Relations Through a Targeted Fundraising Campaign 
MSU communication faculty members Kelli Anthony & Karyn Brown 
Professional Tier 1: Long-Term Strategic Programs – Reputation, Issues, & Brand Management

Award of Excellence: MSU's College of Arts & Sciences Vision Podcast 2022 
Anthony & Brown, along with MSU staff members Sam Kealhofer, John Burrow, & Sarah Nicholas 
Professional Tier 3: Tactical Materials/Projects – Audio & Videos 

Award of Excellence: MSU's College of Arts & Sciences Vision Magazine 2023 
Anthony, Brown, Burrow, Kealhofer, & Nicholas 
Professional Tier 3: Tactical Materials/Projects - Advertising & Publications 

Certificate of Merit: MSU College of Arts & Sciences: 2022 Academic Year Branding 
Anthony, Brown, Kealhofer, & Nicholas 
Professional Tier 1: Long-Term Strategic Programs – Reputation, Issues, & Brand Management 

Certificate of Merit: MSU's College of Arts & Sciences Vision TV 2022 
Anthony, Brown, Kealhofer, & Nicholas 
Professional Tier 3: Tactical Materials/Projects – Audio & Videos 

Award of Excellence: The Magnolia Independent Film Festival: A Social Bloom at 25 
MSU Department of Communication Students Laken Laird, Josh Riggs & Lydia Palmer 
Student Projects: Social Media Management 

Award of Excellence: The Speaking Center at Mississippi State University: Making it Public 
MSU Department of Communication Students Elly Lamb, Sarah Colvert & Georgia Caparos 
Student Campaigns 

Award of Excellence: Story State—Crooked Letter Tales 
MSU Department of Communication Students Caroline Dewberry, Zoie Henson, Emily Anthony & Hannah Whalum 
Student Projects: Potpourri 

Award of Excellence: Lights, Camera, ACTION! Lighting Up The Magnolia Independent Film Festival 
MSU Department of Communication Students Lucy Trew, Sydni Vandevender & Derrick Lewis II 
Student Projects: Special Events

Certificate of Merit: Improving the Recognition & Reputation of the Department of Communication 
MSU Department of Communication Student Zoie Henson 
Student Projects: Advertising & Publications 

Certificate of Merit: Office of Prestigious External Scholarships: Posting with Prestige 
MSU Department of Communication Students Mary Grace Morris, Ainsley Vendur & Ella Sisk 
Student Campaigns 

Certificate of Merit: Department of Geosciences’ Public Image Out of the Stone Age 
MSU Department of Communication Students Savannah Munn, Emma Dotson & Emerson Borgelt 
Student Campaigns

For more details about the College of Arts and Sciences or Department of Communication, visit www.cas.msstate.edu and www.comm.msstate.edu. 
 

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