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The Reed College of Media and College of Creative Arts will merge to form the new WVU College of Creative Arts and Media as of July 1, 2024. Get details.

West Virginia University Reed College of Media

Students give back through CreatAthon event

On Friday, April 17, CreateAthon@WVU kicked off its very first event on West Virginia University’s campus. The 24-hour, work-around-the-clock event consisted of 35 WVU Reed College of Media students and threeCreateathon1 professional mentors who worked free-of-charge to create strategic multimedia marketing materials for three Morgantown area nonprofit organizations. The creative blitz began on 3 p.m. Friday and ended at 3 p.m. on Saturday. 

The selected nonprofits for the first ever CreateAthon@WVU were Literacy Volunteers of Monongalia 

\& Preston Counties (LVMPC), Mountaineer Area RobiticS (MARS) and Monongalia County Child Advocacy Center (MCCAC). These nonprofits provided the student teams with a list of materials they needed to advance their mission. Desired worked ranged from print advertisements, logo rebranding, commercial development and digital media campaign. The value of the completed work was estimated at a value of $45,000 from this 24-hour marathon event.

“CreateAthon@WVU exceeded my wildest expectations,” said Makayla Lewis, team leader for MARS and 
Createathon2
account executive of the event. “I knew that the students would produce great material, but I never expected for them to go as above and beyond as they did. I think that speaks volumes for the quality of education they have received here at WVU.” 

The 35 student participants and three mentors dedicated a total of 912 hours of volunteer work.

“This is the type of event that supports the Reed College of Media’s focus on providing real-world engagement for students and benefiting the community where we live and work,” said Dean Maryanne Reed. “I couldn’t be more proud of the work that the students produced for these deserving nonprofits.”

A panel of four community leaders evaluated the campaigns at the end of the event and selected the creative team for MARS who developed resourceful tutorials, commercials and information pieces. Libby DeHaan, mentor for the outreach and public relations at MARS says she was amazed at the work produced by these students and felt they would help MARS reach even more people.

CreateAthon@WVU partnered with United Way of Monongalia and Preston Counties and was sponsored by Dr. E. Steven Moriconi, Oral Maxillofacial Surgeon. Food was donated by Black Bear, Texas Roadhouse, Pizza Hut, Domino’s, Pizza Al’s, Peppebroni’s, Insomnia Cookies, Honey Baked Ham, and Amazon Student.