UCA communication students, faculty and alumni spent a week celebrating their skills that are anything but weak. 

Throughout the week of Oct. 10-14, the UCA School of Communication celebrated Communication Week with several events, guest speakers, competitions and more. The School of Communication consists of majors in communication, journalism, public relations, and writing, rhetoric and information design. Each of these programs was represented and celebrated throughout the week.

The celebrations kicked off with a coffee and community event in Thompson Hall, the home of the School of Communication. The event, held Monday, allowed students and faculty to spend the morning getting to know others within the program while enjoying refreshments. 

Senior communication major Annalisa Newton said she attended one of the week’s events, a game of Jeopardy, in order to get to know more students within the School of Communication.

“I’m here to meet other people also in the School of Communication in order to build connections,” Newton said.

On Tuesday, the School of Communication hosted an alumni panel for students to hear from UCA graduates who are working in their respective fields with their degrees from the School of Communication. The alumni were Brittany Wells representing writing, rhetoric and information design, Nick Stovall representing public relations, Cassidy Kendall representing journalism and Daniel Bollen representing communication. Each of these alumni representatives provided advice for current students whose shoes they were in not long ago. The panel shared what tools helped them further their education and land their current jobs.

Another event students participated in was the School of Communication Jeopardy game. On Thursday, two students from each of the four majors competed for a $50 Amazon gift card and a trophy. Students tested their knowledge of several topics related to the School of Communication, including facts about courses, professors, program history and more. The game of Jeopardy ended in a tie between the journalism students and the writing, rhetoric and information design students. 

The Hilliard Speech Showcase was another event held during communication week. On Tuesday night, writing students competed in a speaking competition in Stanley Russ hall. 

Students also had the opportunity to listen to guest speaker Ellen Kreth from the Madison County Record, a newspaper based in Huntsville, Arkansas, that recently won the Taylor Family Award for Fairness in Journalism from the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard.

Kreth spoke to students from various journalism and communication classes in Stanley Russ on Tuesday afternoon about her experience as the publisher of a small-town newspaper that uncovered a major Title IX story dealing with sexual abuse within a sports team at the local junior high being covered up by the school and it’s board members. Kreth talked to the attending students about how important their field of study is and encouraged them to never give up.

She explained what tools helped her and her colleagues win such a prestigious award while also answering students’ questions. 

Christopher Roland, assistant professor of communication, was the leader of several events throughout the week. He said that one of the main purposes of celebrating communication week was to appreciate both the similarities and differences among each major within the program and what all they entail.

“We’re trying to share what we all have that’s unique in the School of Communication, but also what we have in common, what we can celebrate about our discipline and about our school,” Roland said. 

He also thanked all of the faculty involved that made Communication Week happen, and said he hopes to get more students involved in the future as well.