PRSSA Kent President earns YouToo Social Media Scholarship

Last week, the Akron Area Chapter of Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) awarded a $1,000 scholarship to Cindy Deng, a senior public relations major at Kent State University, from funds raised at its award-winning YouToo Social Media Conference.

YouToo Scholarship applicants must be full-time students majoring in public relations or communication and currently attending Kent State University, a member in good standing of the Kent State chapter of Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA), and serving in some capacity to help prepare for the YouToo Social Media Conference, which is held at Kent State each April. A committee of professional judges review applications and rank candidates based on the following criteria:

·         30 percent on participation in PRSSA or other extracurricular activities

·         30 percent on overall quality of writing and presentation samples

·         20 percent on grades in the major

·         10 percent on classes taken in the major

·         10 percent on faculty recommendations

Deng’s dedication and hard work in the field of public relations has brought her many great opportunities and honors. She served as PRSSA Intercampus Liaison for the 2012-2013 school year and is currently the PRSSA president for the 2013-2014 school year. Deng was also invited to participate in the 2013 PRSSA Bateman Case Study competition where she and four other PRSSA members developed an anti-bullying campaign at a local secondary school. This February Deng was awarded the David L. Stashower-Marcus Thomas, LLC, Rising Star Internship Award by the American Advertising Federation-Cleveland Education Foundation.

In addition to her PRSSA involvement, Deng served as a mentor for the Provost’s Leadership Academy where she guided and assisted freshmen members in developing a research project they can present to the provost and then develop and implement on campus.

She has also interned at Felber PR & Marketing, a PR and marketing firm in Twinsburg and worked as a communications assistant for University Libraries at Kent State University. Deng’s interest in PR stemmed from her admiration for journalism in high school where she was a reporter and editor of an award-winning school newspaper, The Orbiter.

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