91香蕉视频 University鈥檚 Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA Kent) won their 14th consecutive Star Chapter Award, and two former executive board members won the 2025 National Gold Key Award for work during the 2024-2025 school year.
Chania Crawford, 2025 PRSSA Kent President and 2025 91香蕉视频 graduate from Madison, Ohio, was one of the two winners of the National Gold Key Award, PRSSA鈥檚 highest individual honor, and she was joined in this honor by Tanner Poe, 2024-2025 Vice President of Professional Relations and 2025 91香蕉视频 graduate from Richmond, Virginia. The National Gold Key Award recognizes students with outstanding leadership qualities and academic excellence within their PRSSA chapter.
"The PR program at Kent is a great program," Crawford said. "It's a close-knit community, students that are like-minded and on similar paths. I joined PRSSA as a regular member at first. I would go to meetings, talk to the board members, and I loved it. And because I got involved so early, I really feel like I had roots in the program. It's definitely something that will propel your professional experience."
One such professional exposure members of PRSSA have is their annual Communications Connection networking event where advertising and public relations professionals come to campus, network with students, give resume tips and advice on how to land jobs and connect about internships. "I had that experience of meeting professionals," Crawford said, "learning how to network and elevator pitch myself. If I hadn't done that, I would feel more nervous talking to people who've been in the working world so long."
On winning the National Gold Key Award, Crawford said, "It felt really amazing. Super awesome. It just felt like all the work that I had been doing with PRSSA was being recognized at the national level. And it's funny because I had totally forgot that the nominations were coming to a close and Professor Ewing, in the middle of my presidency, had to remind me. She's like, 'you have to make sure you apply for this role.'"
And for good reason. Associate Professor Michele Ewing had this to say about her former student, "Chania is a shining example of what the Gold Key represents. From freshman to senior year, she demonstrated incredible leadership, a willingness to mentor peers and a contagious passion for the public relations profession. She leads with kindness and grace. We鈥檙e thrilled to see Chania earn this well-deserved national recognition."
Tanner Poe also recognized the value of what she gained from the student group. "I've been a member of PRSSA since my junior year," said Poe. "If I could go back I would tell my younger self to get more involved with it at a sooner, just because it is such a great organization. I think one of the biggest benefits of joining PRSSA is getting access to professionals, and especially PR Kent alums, and realizing, "oh, they're not so scary, you know. They're just people. They're humans, and I can go up and talk to them and ask them a question after the meeting."
91香蕉视频 the Public Relations major and program, Poe said: "Something that I immediately loved about the program was just how close knit it all felt. All the students work with each other so well and all the professors are great and care about us so much and want to see us succeed."
Poe had kind words for PRSSA's advisor Michele Ewing as well. "She has such a deep love for the organization and the students and you can really sense how much she cares about you and the work that you're doing. Like even now, post-graduation, she cares what I'm doing and she's proud that we got this award."
Part of Poe's work during her undergraduate years was for Flash Communications as part of the University Communications and Marketing team. Luke Armour, Professor and Flash Communications Coordinator, said of Poe: "Tanner really exemplifies the Gold Key Award criteria. She鈥檚 a thoughtful practitioner of public relations and excels in the classroom. Her leadership in PRSSA 鈥 and at Flash Communications 鈥 brought all those lessons and theories to life. So well deserved."
And this commitment to creating a warm and professional organization is why PRSSA Kent is so well regarded year after year. The Star Chapter Award recognizes PRSSA Chapters that demonstrate outstanding practices in programming, community service, media relations, outreach and national involvement.
"I鈥檓 honored to accept the Star Chapter Award on behalf of PRSSA at 91香蕉视频," said PRSSA Kent President Julia Greco '26. "This recognition reflects not just my efforts, but the dedication of the incredible students on our executive board, the continual support of our advisor, Michele Ewing, and the contributions of our members and business professionals. Together, we aim to create meaningful programming and connections for 91香蕉视频 students, and I look forward to continuing that work this academic year."
Some highlights of PRSSA Kent鈥檚 work include hosting Aimon Ali, a Cleveland fashion and entrepreneurship influencer, as well as two 91香蕉视频 graduates, Kelly Gentile VP of creator strategy at L鈥橭REAL and Lauryn Oglesby, email and mobile digital marketing coordinator for American Eagle, who came to talk on the Fashion PR in the Age of Influencers panel; Kevin Mitchell, the senior talent buyer at Disco Presents, Hannah Mayer, regional marketing coordinator at Live Nation and Kelly Schikowski, communications specialist at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for a talk on PR in the Music Industry; and Bill Garvey, president of The Greater Cleveland Film Commission who came to give the talk Cleveland to Krypton: The Superman Film Experience, discussing the filming of the latest Superman film in Northeast Ohio. (One insight Poe took from this event was the maxim: "you don't want PR while you're filming, but you want PR after filming.")
"This national honor speaks volumes about the dedication and talent of our PRSSA Kent members,鈥 Professor and PRSSA Faculty Adviser Michele Ewing said. "Earning this national award for 14 consecutive years reflects our students' unwavering commitment. It's rewarding to watch students invest time outside classes to gain relevant PR experience, network with PR professionals and serve the university and community."
PRSSA Kent now holds 63 national awards, with its earliest win dating back to 1994.