Cameron University’s Office of Public Affairs was recognized with nine awards at the Oklahoma College Public Relations Association (OCPRA) annual awards ceremony on July 11 in Oklahoma City. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic canceling last year's competition, entries from June 2019 through May 2021 were accepted in this year’s contest.
CU earned four Excellence Awards. Janet Williams’ feature story in the Winter 20-21 issue of Cameron Magazine on environmental activist Catherine Coleman Flowers, titled “The Erin Brockovich of Wastewater,” placed for Best Headline. The award for Best Use of Social Media – Admissions Category went to the “Enroll Now” Facebook carousel-style ad created by Brenda Dally, Rhonda Young and Alex Zakharchenko. Picked for Blogs/Editorial/Column was CU President Dr. John McArthur’s opinion piece, “Making Good on a Pledge to our Grads,” published in the October 11, 2020, edition of The Lawton Constitution. John Kindred earned an Excellence Award for Poster Design – General for his 2020 poster promoting Martin Luther King Jr. Day events on campus.
Achievement Awards resulted in three more wins for Cameron. “The Power of Partners,” a mailer created for the Office of Development in December 2020 by Julie Cunningham and Alex Zakharchenko, was picked in the Direct Mail Piece division. Rhonda Young was honored in the Full-Length Feature – Human Interest category for “Making a Difference One Equation at a Time,” her feature story on math teacher Brigit Minden included in the Winter 2020-21 issue of Cameron Magazine. “The Cameron Connection,” the Spring 2020 issue of Cameron Magazine, which was a collective effort by John Kindred, Keith Mitchell, Janet Williams, Rhonda Young and Alex Zakharchenko, earned an award for Magazine class.
Honorable Mentions resulted in two additional plaques for CU. Full-Length Feature – Human Interest went to Janet Williams for “Creating a Path to Home.” That was her feature story on Spencer Brown from the Fall 2019 issue of Cameron Magazine. Julie Cunningham and Alex Zakharchenko were recognized in the Large Brochure class with the CU President’s Partners booklet they created for the Office of Development in March 2021.
OCPRA provides superb networking opportunities for new and seasoned public relations professionals – from both public and private institutions. Membership includes writers, designers, photographers, web developers, social media types, sports information specialists and event managers. The goal of the annual awards ceremony, which began in 1992, is to encourage a healthy spirit of competition while rewarding achievement, recognizing excellence and honoring the creative imagination of professionals who represent higher education to the public utilizing marketing, communication and public relations efforts. Entrants are not required to be members of OCPRA.
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PR#21-095
