For the third consecutive year, the Elon University Bateman Team has received recognition in the nation's highest competition for public relations students.
The Elon Bateman Team was recognized as finishing among the top 10 teams in the 2009 competition, which featured entries from close to 80 teams from colleges and universities across the nation.
This year’s team consisted of Claire Derreberry, Halley Spong, Ashley Barbee and Allan Hendrix. Last year’s team placed in the top 10, and Elon’s 2007 Bateman team finished in the top three.
“Elon continues to be a major player in the national Bateman competition,” said Frances Ward-Johnson, associate professor in the School of Communications and Bateman Team advisor. “Our students continue to work hard each year and show strong interest in the contest.”
The three finalists for this year are Loyola University New Orleans, Michigan State University and the University of Maryland. Other universities, receiving recognition and honorable mentions, along with Elon, were the University of Florida, University of Oklahoma, Penn State, University of Georgia, University of Oregon, Brigham Young University, and California State University at Long Beach.
Bateman is a national case study competition established by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) in 1973 to give university students an opportunity to exercise the analytical skills and mature judgment required for public relations problem solving. The 2009 Bateman Competition challenged teams to formulate a public relations campaign for Consumer Bankers Association’s College Bound Aid Program to create awareness about the importance of a college education among teens aged 11 to 14 and their parents.
The Bateman competition is a project of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA), which was founded by PRSA in 1968. The student organization has grown to more than 9,600 members and 280 chapters at colleges and universities in 43 states. Elon has one of the 10 largest PRSSA chapters in the nation.