Communication & Media Arts Present Annual Senior Awards

Congratulations to the Class of 2011's select group of communication majors honored on Friday, May 20, during the annual Marist College Baccalaureate and Communication and Media Arts Senior Award ceremonies.

David Amrani
School of Communication and The Arts
Baccalaureate Recipient

During a campus-wide ceremony in the Marist Chapel, President Dennis Murray awarded David Amrani the School of Communication and the Arts Baccalaureate award for special achievement in academic and community affairs. David, who earned an overall grade-point average of 3.96, will graduate with a concentration in advertising and minors in writing and information technology.

During his four years at Marist, David has been an active contributor to campus communication outlets like the student-produced My575 news site; he has served the Marist community as a Marist Library student assistant; and he has represented Marist as a national-caliber fencer (foil). He plans to pursue a master's degree in communication following graduation as he prepares for a career in political communication and campaign strategy.

During another ceremony, held in the Lowell Thomas Center, seven graduating communication majors received annual School of Communication and the Arts Excellence Awards. The awards honor the top seniors in each of the seven academic concentrations comprising the Department of Communication and the Department of Media Arts. Recipients of these awards, who are selected by faculty members from both departments, best exemplify excellence in education through overall academic performance and accomplishments in student activities, athletics, internships, service to the community, professional and scholarly conferences, and other extracurricular activities.

The School of Communication and the Arts Dean Steven Ralston and Assistant Dean Missy Alexander presided over the ceremony, congratulated the recipients, and acknowledged the important contributions of  their families and friends. Faculty members from each of the Department of Communication and the Department of Media Arts presented the Excellence Awards to the following honorees.

Advertising: Stephen Gariepy
Communication Studies: Sarah Parsloe
Interactive Media/Game Studies: Brian McMillan
Journalism: Jacel Egan
Public Relations/Organizational Communication: Sabrina Clark
Radio/TV/Film: Laura Veltre
Sports Communication: Allison Burke

I was proud to present the Excellence Award in Public Relations/Organizational Communication to Sabrina Clark. Sabrina earned an overall 3.8 grade-point average while completing a double major in communication and Spanish with a minor in business. During her four years at Marist, she was active in student activities, including the Marist Red Foxes Chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA). As the chapter's vice president in her junior year and president in her senior year, Sabrina increased active membership by leading the development of programs like the chapter's annual leadership forum and its new student-run public relations firm, Northroad Communications. Sabrina also served as the first president of the new Marist Student Entrepreneur Network (MSEN).

Sabrina Clark
Excellence Award
in Public Relations
Recipient

Sabrina also served as a public relations consultant to clients in Marist's new business incubator, which works with local firms and start-up businesses to apply technology for economic growth and new job creation. Sabrina has already accepted a full-time position as public relations and marketing coordinator for VisionScape Interactive, LLC, a new firm based in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., that uses innovative 3D gaming technology to help clients create interactive replicas of property, landscape and home-improvement projects in minutes.

Dr. Mark Van Dyke with Sabrina Clark
2011 Senior Awards Ceremony

Congratulations to all senior award recipients -- you make us proud to be a Red Fox!