Media College News

Walking into the WVU Media Innovation Center on Saturday, April 1, was like walking into a techie’s dream. Attendees of the Indie Games Showcase were testing out locally made video games, experiencing virtual reality and wowing each other with game development ideas.

This inaugural event was hosted by MonRiverGames, a nonprofit founded by WVU Reed College of Media Teaching Assistant Professor Heather Cole. MonRiverGames values “games for good” — creating meaningful and purposeful games — and aims to provide enriching and professional experiences within game design and the arts for both students and members of the community. This mission was the inspiration for hosting the showcase.

Reed College of Media students in Adjunct Instructor Chuck Harman’s capstone class have been developing campaigns for their client, the National D-Day Memorial. During spring break, they traveled to France to see first-hand the places allied soldiers landed during D-Day in World War II.

“It was a remarkable experience to see the soil where we had fought almost 80 years ago,” said Parker Roberts, a member of the West Virginia Army National Guard and a cadet in the WVU Army ROTC program. “This capstone course was very intriguing to me with my military background. The most memorable thing was walking on both Omaha and Utah Beaches. It gave me chills to know that I stepped foot where thousands of brave heroes sacrificed their lives.”

West Virginia University Reed College of Media senior Bailee Tucker and the “WVU News” team each won a Gracie Award from The Alliance for Women in Media Foundation. The awards will be presented June 20 in New York City.

Since 1971, the Gracie Awards have celebrated “outstanding programming and individual achievement created by women, for women and about women in all facets of media in news and entertainment.” Each year, a team of industry professionals judge submissions from national and local media professionals in television, radio and digital media.

The feelings of gratitude are mutual for WVU Reed College of Media students and leaders of the local nonprofit organizations for which they’re providing advertising and public relations services.

Each semester, students in Teaching Associate Professor Elizabeth Oppe’s Advertising and Public Relations capstone course create an integrated communications campaign for a local nonprofit organization. This semester’s clients include Get Moving! Inc., United Way/Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, All American Grand Bash, Old Hemlock Foundation, Monongalia Parks and Recreation and WVU Campus Food Garden.

The seven recipients of the 2023 WVU Reed College of Media IMC & DMC Scholarships have at least two things in common – a desire to make positive change in their communities and a clear idea about how to do it.

Recipients Kirsten McAlpin of Sumner, Georgia; Jenna Cooper of Wellsburg, West Virginia; Megan Hansen of Sacramento, California; Julie Thomm of Charleston, West Virginia; and Sydney Starkey of Morgantown, West Virginia are enrolled in the College’s online Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) master’s degree program. Alesha Hemeda of Schenectady, New York, is enrolled in the online Digital Marketing Communications master’s degree program, and Nicolina Converso of Edgewater, Maryland, is part of the IMC program’s Defense Information School (DINFOS) cohort of military affiliated students.

From professional mentorship to volunteering at his alma mater, College of Media alumnus Brandon Thomas (BSJ, 2010) has made a habit of giving back.

Thomas was recently recognized with the Emerging Leader Award by The Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations at their Milestones in Mentoring Gala in Chicago. The award honors young leaders who are mentoring new public relations professionals, while also providing reverse mentorship to more senior colleagues, all while advancing diversity, equity and inclusion.

“WVU News,” the Reed College of Media’s student-produced television newscast, has been awarded a 2023 Platinum AVA Digital Award for the special edition episode “Mental Health in America, a Growing Crisis.”

This international creative competition is judged by members of the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals and recognizes outstanding achievement in the concept, direction, design and production of digital media and communication.

Two journalism professors at  West Virginia University’s  Reed College of Media will lead a series of collaborative community events throughout Appalachia to explore voting rights and engage young people in democratic processes with the support of a $300,000 grant from the  Mellon Foundation.

Dana Coester and  Joel Beeson have a 20-year track record of working with key community members — faith leaders, veterans, educators, parents, youth and civic leaders — throughout Appalachia, specifically in West Virginia. These relationships will be the bedrock of a series of nonpartisan virtual and in-person workshops, presentations, panels and screening events that will help build community resilience to off- and online disinformation, manipulation and political violence threatening election integrity and community stability.