Three writing awards and two promotional awards were presented to East Central University at the Oklahoma College Public Relations Association's summer conference.
Brian Johnson, ECU sports information coordinator, won first place in sports writing with "Pybas Supreme Model for Endurance," a story about Tyler Pybas, a senior outfielder on ECU's baseball team.
Jill Frye, assistant director of communications and marketing, won first place in news writing with a story about the granddaughter of famous artist Ludolfs Liberts donating two of his paintings to ECU. She also won third place in short feature writing with a story about a father and daughter's pledge to earn college degrees at ECU.
The Communications and Marketing Department, which also includes Amy Ford, Gina Smith, Susan Ingram and Ryan Wetherill, won first place in the "Bright Idea" category by showcasing the many ways ECU's Centennial Scholarship was promoted and publicized. The scholarship was developed by ECU administrators for all freshmen who enrolled at ECU for the first time this fall.
Wetherill, ECU's webmaster, received honorable mention in the Shoestring Category for successful out-of-the-ordinary events or promotions. He coordinated an "ECUTube Contest" for student videos promoting life at ECU.
The purpose of the competition is to recognize outstanding work produced by OCPRA professionals in public relations, development, audio-visual communications, publications, design, periodicals, writing, photography, sports and alumni programs. Out-of-state judges selected the winners from nearly 500 entries.
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