October President’s Message

Virginia is blessed with an abundance of colleges and universities, and there are currently 11 chapters of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) at schools across the Commonwealth.

In Central Virginia, there are PRSSA chapters at Virginia Commonwealth University and Longwood University. Earlier this year, PRSA Richmond’s board of directors voted to endorse the application of a new PRSSA chapter; we’re thrilled that Henry Moore, an assistant professor of mass communications at Virginia State University, has applied to establish another PRSSA chapter in the Greater Richmond region. To qualify for a PRSSA chapter, universities must offer a sequence of at least five public relations courses.

Our chapter is devoted to supporting students who want to go into the public relations profession—regardless of whether they attend a school with a PRSSA chapter. Virginia Union University’s Department of Mass Communications is hosting a creative fundraising campaign to support their first Mass Comm Week, which will take place this coming spring. Our chapter has offered to host a pizza party during VUU’s Mass Comm Week, and I’m sure several of our members will serve as guest speakers. Please consider supporting this milestone event at the Go Fund Me page the department has established.

As we near the end of the year, it’s time to think about two important ways you can support public relations students in our region.

1. You can donate to the Richmond Public Relations Foundation, which provides scholarships to students who want to become PR professionals and
2. You can sign up to participate in Student Connections Week, which takes place Oct. 19-23. Mentoring a student can be as big or as little a commitment as you’d like; invite a student to shadow you at the office or take her to coffee—whatever works for you. It’s easy to register and the payoff is huge.

Sincerely,

Rachel Beanland, APR
2015 PRSA President