LSU’s Manship School Student Public Relations Team Wins Top National Award

March 18, 2018
Members of the Bateman Group

Baton Rouge, LA – LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication took home first place in the country’s premier public relations competition this week, beating out 84 other university teams from across the country.

The Bateman Case Study Competition is the Public Relations Student Society of America’s contest for public relations students and provides college students the opportunity to apply classroom education and internship experiences to create and implement a full public relations campaign. This year, participants developed campaigns on behalf of With Purpose to bring awareness to the necessity of safe and effective treatment options for children with cancer in America.

The LSU team, which formed the local Tigers with Purpose organization, was comprised of senior public relations students Josie Bonnette, Chloe Kingston, Kevin Miner, Meagan Morvant and Amanda Rabalais.

“When Manship School students graduate from LSU and go into the workforce, they make up some of the best and brightest public relations practitioners in the U.S., and bringing home the gold from this national championship of public relations competitions underscores the first-rate training and education that our students get while at the Manship School,” Sadie Wilks, the Bateman faculty adviser for the Manship School, said. Professional advisers Lindsay Rabalais and Chelsea Wade Moreau also worked with the team.

During the “Fight for Five” campaign, the Tigers with Purpose team raised $1,500 for With Purpose and reached an audience of more than 1.9 million people through innovative approaches to placing news stories with local and national media outlets, social media, community partnerships, local events and video content.

“It has been such an honor to work on a campaign that is close to all our hearts, alongside an organization that we believe in wholeheartedly,” said Rabalais. “This is the first time the Manship School has brought home the gold, and as our team of seniors moves on from the Manship School, we hope to leave a legacy of greatness for the students who will compete in this competition for years to come.”

See more from Tigers with Purpose on their Facebook page and Twitter page.

For more information, contact smalin@lsu.edu.  

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LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication ranks among the strongest collegiate communication programs in the country, with its robust emphasis on media and public affairs. It offers undergraduate degrees in public relations, journalism, political communication, digital advertising and pre-law, along with four graduate degree programs: master of mass communication, Ph.D. in media and public affairs, certificate of strategic communication, and dual MMC/law degree. Its public relations students were recently ranked the #1 team in the nation, and its digital advertising and student media teams frequently earn national recognition.