Public Relations

You may have thought field trips pretty much stopped after middle school. But every week, students taking Professor Heidi Carr’s STC 493 Women in PR class are out and about getting to know Miami. Recently, the group of avid public relations students had the chance to take a private tour of the American Airlines Arena, where they stood on the Miami HEAT court and sat in the locker rooms to hear a special presentation. “Getting to stand where legendary athletes have played on was an incredible experience,” said Dana Franco, [...]

Every so often, we hear an inspiring story of hope and survival that reminds us to put things into perspective. In May 2015, Diana Donnarumma graduated from the University of Miami and had begun working at a PR firm in downtown Miami where she was living full-time. A successful student and working professional, she did not expect she would also be a multi-organ transplant survivor.  Since she was seven years old, Donnarumma had been in and out of hospitals with constant infections, fevers, and no concrete diagnosis. Determined to put [...]

The scholarships are named in honor of Ev Clay, founder of the oldest public relations firm in Florida, and awarded annually at the PRSA Miami scholarship luncheon. Five University of Miami students recently received the 2019 Ev Clay/Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Miami scholarship award to propel them further into their college careers. In total, eight South Florida students were recognized for their outstanding accomplishments in the field of public relations at the 32nd endowment luncheon. Since its founding in 1985, and including this year’s awards, the endowment has [...]

University of Miami School of Communication students were celebrated at the 31st annual Ev Clay/PRSA Miami Chapter Endowment Fund Luncheon for receiving four out of seven Ev Clay/PRSA Miami Scholarships, totaling $2,750 each. Nathaniel Derrenbacher, Sofia Estevez, Izabella Felpeto and Jiaying Li, SoC students and Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) members, were selected after submitting 500-word essays detailing the steps they would take to ensure a quick and effective reaction to a potential public relations crisis. “It's unprecedented for UM students to win so many of these scholarships, [...]

Four former students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School talked with School of Communication students about their activism and its challenges. A day after another mass shooting in their home state, students from Parkland, Florida, visited the University of Miami to talk with their peers about the challenges of mounting a national campaign against gun violence and keeping people focused on the need to drive change.  When the horrors of Sunday’s latest shooting at a dining and entertainment complex along the St. Johns River in Jacksonville surfaced, in which two [...]

Alex Kamphorst discusses how his extracurricular involvement led him to his true passion of public relations. When Alex Kamphorst arrived at the University of Miami, he was a marine science major with aspirations to work in marine conservation. In fact, the prestigious undergraduate program at UM’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science first attracted Kamphorst to attend Miami. But after a year in the program, Alex became skeptical of his career choice.    “It was like my right brain took over and I needed to be in an environment where [...]