School of Communications seniors Marisa Moody and Erin Turner have both been named to the AAF's Most Promising Multicultural Students Program, a highly selective annual award for college students with exceptional academic and professional achievements.
Elon University Strategic Communications students Marisa Moody ’15 and Erin Turner ’15 have been honored as Most Promising Multicultural Students by the American Advertising Federation.
The two will travel to New York City in February for a three-day workshop to interview with industry professionals and be recruited by the nation’s top strategic communications firms.
Both students received the distinction based on their strong academic records and accomplishments through professional experiences with internships, Elon’s AAF Student Advertising Club and Live Oak Communications, Elon’s student-run strategic communications agency.
“We selected from a pool of some of the most talented and diverse students I’ve come across,” said Christena J. Pyle, diversity and inclusion supervisor with Omnicom Group and 2015 MPMS judge. “When you start here, with this caliber of talent, what you end up with is a class of students that could very well change our industry.”
Moody and Turner are the first MPMS winners from Elon. Eight professional judges from Carmichael Lynch, The CDM Group, Deutsch, Leo Burnett, Mary Kay, McCann Worldwide, Omnicom Group and Team Ignition Pancultural Marketing selected 50 students from the more than 200 AAF affiliate advertising clubs from universities across America. Elon was one of only a handful of universities to have multiple winners.
Moody, mentored and nominated by Elon AAF adviser and associate professor Daniel M. Haygood, is the Elon AAF Club president and creative director of Live Oak Communications. She interned at BBDO-NY last summer.
“Marisa has shown that she is going to be a real star in the advertising field. At Elon, she has demonstrated outstanding leadership in a number of areas, including our AAF chapter,” Haygood said. “The agency that hires her is going to get an outstanding young professional.”
Turner, nominated by Live Oak Communications faculty director Hal Vincent, is a senior account executive at Live Oak, a diversity ambassador for Elon University’s office of admissions and student event coordinator for Elon’s African and African American Studies Department.
“Working with both of these students through Live Oak Communications and in my Strategic Campaigns course, I am not surprised by this honor,” Vincent said. “Having proudly mentored several winners from other universities in the past, I have no doubt these two will make their mark in the industry and will proudly represent Elon as influential multicultural voices in the strategic communications business for years to come.”
About Elon AAF Student Advertising Club:
Elon’s AAF Advertising Club is one of more than 200 college chapters with approximately 6,200 student members nationwide. The chapter serves students interested in advertising with opportunities to expand their knowledge and experiences through invited guest speakers, business tours, and professional and social networking events in partnership with industry affiliate members of the AAF and Ad2 organizations.
About Live Oak Communications:
Live Oak Communications is Elon University’s student-run strategic communications agency, providing students unique experiences partnering with numerous businesses, non-profits and organizations to achieve their business goals through targeted, multiplatform strategies and tactics. Live Oak Communication’s capabilities include public relations, advertising, video, web design, social media solutions, graphic design, corporate identity and more.
– Information submitted by Hal Vincent, Live Oak Communications faculty director and Communications lecturer