Three Communication and Journalism students won the most prestigious national award for undergraduate public relations students. Senior Devon Armijo, Shannon Guess and Jacqueline Jinzo were notified that they were awarded the Bernays Cup, awarded by Public Relations Quarterly.
The competition is based on essays submitted to PRQ by undergraduate students. The winning paper was titled, “Ripped Straight from the Headlines: Jack the Ripper’s Public Relations,” and was published in Volume 52, Number 4 of PRQ.
Armijo, Guess and Jinzo applied the existentialist philosophy to the so-called “Jack the Ripper letters” in an attempt to explain the Ripper crimes through systematic sociocultural scrutiny of the documents.
“We had a large number of entrants this year, and most were very good. The UNM student contribution, however, was clearly the best,” PRQ Editor Elaine Newman said.
“I was so excited, I couldn’t believe that we won at first,” Armijo said when told of the news. “We knew that the competition would be stiff, and I’m really glad that our paper took first place.” Guess added, “I’m absolutely thrilled at this Lobo victory.” Jinzo said, “I was confident in our submission, but this is still a wonderful event.”
This is the third time UNM students have won this honor, the most of any university in the nation. Genevieve Sadler-Trainor received the award in 2005 for her essay, “Visual Methods of Public Relations Communication.” Mary White’s 1997 study of tobacco lobbying in the 1996 elections, “Buttman on the 1996 Campaign Trail,” also was also awarded the prize.
For more information, contact Dirk Gibson, dirkcgib@unm.edu or 505-615-8267.