The Public Relations Council of Alabama chapter at UNA has recently been rebranded and announced winners at the PRCA state conference April 4.

Recently renamed the Public Relations Individuals Dedicated to Experience, the organization had its members spend a majority of the fall semester in their public relations campaigns class creating PRIDE.

“Our class divided into committees to work on the rebranding project,” senior public relations major Whitney Dugger said.

The committees included event planning, social media, rebranding and web design. As a whole, the class received the Award of Excellence at the conference for the rebranding of the chapter.

Dugger worked on the social media committee, which used Twitter to update followers on important events and meetings.

Dr. Beth Garfrerick challenged the class to use Twitter to contact David Meerman Scott, the author of their textbook. They took a class picture with a magnified version of the book cover and sent it to Scott. When he responded, the class was proud of their recognition and teamwork.

The group created a new logo, newsletter and hosted a launch party. The logo incorporates a picture of a tree where the “I” in PRIDE is meant to be.

Senior public relations major Eli Harper said that the tree serves two purposes.

The tree most recently represents the Liberty Tree that was planted outside the Communication Building to commemorate First Amendment Month. The tree also signifies the need to branch out.

“The professors give us a sense of drive to go beyond what we think we can do,” Harper said.

For the class the students were required to turn in two pieces for the competition and were encouraged to submit other outside projects. Dugger was awarded the highest honor with a medallion for her position paper, “Alabama Higher Education Programs: Ban Smoking on College Campuses.”

“I knew it was a good paper and good to submit, but I guess it was better than I thought,” she said. “I’m honored to have won the award.”

She conducted research on smoke-free campuses, studied focus groups and created surveys to gain other students’ perspectives.

Harper received the Certificate of Merit for the Communications Department brochure he created. His work is now the official department brochure and consists of information concerning scholarships, studies and organizations.

He also worked with fellow PRIDE members Jake Brasfield, Matt Liles and Craig Hurst to develop a promotional video for the organization. They received the Certificate of Merit for their work. The video was a spinoff of the hit Doritos Super Bowl commercial. The star of the commercial was Accreditation in Public Relations professor Lisa Darnell’s son. The video can be viewed at www.youtube.com under “PRIDE – The University of North Alabama PRCA.”

Other winners included: Heath Borden, Jamie Brooks, Kelli Coffman, Mary Cox, John Robert Fulmer, Amiracle Fuqua, Shani Hamilton, Chase House, Jenna Kelly, Mallory King, Jacob Lovell, Colleen Radford, April Rogers, Stephanie Sims, Cedric Walls, Mareca Watson and Chelsea Yarbrough.

Professionals from across the state were present at the conference, providing the opportunity to network for the students.

“The professionals really encouraged us and gave great advice for when we begin to look for our first jobs,” Dugger said.

Several other colleges were competing at the event, including the University of Alabama and the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Harper said that other chapters would ask how PRIDE members were so involved and dedicated to the organization.

“People saw us at the conference, traveling as one big group,” he said. “Our department has a sense of family with professionalism, everyone’s so involved.”

The professors have provided them with a hands-on experience and a better understanding of their chosen field.

“I’m excited to see how PRIDE’s going to grow,” Dugger said. “It was created last semester and we were worried how it would be once we graduated, but the younger students have really stepped up.”