The role of a public relationsdepartment may vary at different organizations. At Cedarville University, the PR team’s main responsibility is to communicate and connect storiesof faculty, students, and alumni with social media and traditional media outlets that advance the university’s reputation.

Cedarville’s PR team has been focused on this mission for decades, primarily using a team of students to effectively communicate to both internal and external audiences.Many of the students are pursuing degrees in communication, whetherit'sprofessional writing and information design, communication or broadcasting, digital media, and journalism.Withtwofull-time professionals and five students, Cedarville’s PR team has become a trailblazer of positive information that has aided in the university’s enrollment growth and fundraising successes.

“The level of real-life learning our communication students receive from working in Cedarville’s public relations department is as powerful as an internship anywhere else,” saidDerrick Green,chair of thedepartment of communication. “Because the students are treated as young professionals in their PR roles, I have personally seen their personal and professional growth, and they are ready for a career in communications as a result.”

While the students gain practical experience, Cedarville University alsobenefitsfromthe regional,nationaland sometimes international exposure.

“Our mission in PR at Cedarville is to strategically tell stories so that the people who read or hear our stories are better informed about Cedarville University so they can be more fully engaged with our mission as a university,” saidMark D. Weinstein, executive director of public relations since 2013. “As a department focused on communications, we embrace the important responsibility of communicating well because we know our stories can have a wide-ranging impact in the lives of many people.”

Throughout the past decades, students have risen to the occasion of telling Cedarville’s stories.In fact, during the past decade, the team of student writers have writtenmore than3,600stories that have been distributed to media outlets across the nation and have led to an interview on the Cedarville Stories Podcast (cedarville.edu/cedarvillestories).The potential impact of these stories, according to Meltwater, a third-party media analytics firm, is in the millions of viewers or readers.

While the impact is noteworthy, it pales in comparison to how the skills that are developed and honed as student PR writers havepropelled the students to significant communication positions after graduation.And,these skills have taken the students to careers with notable ministries and organizations, including Trans World Radio,the Kansas City Star, The Mighty 990--KWAM Radio in Memphis, Tennessee,Quantum Health, The Hershey Company,Stanford University,Lancaster BibleCollegeand Good NewsMedia.

Kathryn Sill, who now works as the communication manager for neurosurgery at the Stanford University School of Medicine, began her career as an unsure student who was seeking her way through college. She joined Cedarville’s PR team in 2014 and effectively used her two-year PR experience to gain confidence, bothinwritingand professional development.As a result, she was able to land some of the most prestigious communication positions in higher education.

As a student writer, Sill was given writing assignments in healthcare, primarily for Cedarville’s School of Pharmacy. In this role, she asked questions and learned more about the pharmaceutical profession, helping her to advance the reputation of the new pharmacy program.

When she began handling the healthcare beat at Cedarville, little did she know that her healthcare assignments at Cedarville would pave the way for a successful career. In addition to being a communication leader in her present position at Stanford, she also held communication roles at the University of California at San Francisco and Gilead Sciences in Foster City, California.

“As I look back on my career, I know that working in Cedarville’s public relations department was extremely formative in preparing me for my career,” said Sill. “Every communication role thatI’veheld since graduating Cedarville has been in the healthcare or biotech field.I am grateful for the opportunities and training I received as a Cedarville PR student becausethey’vehelped me to excel in the communications field.”

Sill recalls that shedidn’tcome to the PR job with confidence or experience in writing about healthcare. Although she was a writer for the university’s student newspaper, Cedars, her assignments varied anddidn’tinclude healthcare topics. Researching the role of the pharmaceutical industry and asking questions of faculty members in Cedarville’s School of Pharmacy were instrumental in her personal and professional development.

Nathan Pilling, meanwhile, was focused on a career in journalism, and he used his student experience tolaunch a careerin print journalism.Today,he’sa breaking news reporter forThe Kansas City Star.

Pilling, who worked for the Cedarville PR team from 2011 until his graduation in 2014,catapultedhis student job into a journalism career that began at the Xenia Daily Gazette near Cedarville. From there, he accepted a position withthe Kitsap Sun in Washingtonstate before taking his current role withThe Kansas City Starearlier this year.

Pilling came to Cedarville for adouble major inbroadcasting and digital media and journalism, and it was theuniversity’sPR office that gave himhisfirst taste of what a real-world newsroom environment could be. It was during his college career that he honed his skills in interviewing, discernment, reportingand understanding what it takes to capture the essence of a story.

“I had a broad view of news writing, and while journalism was where I ended,my work in public relationsroundedoutthe communication skills that I needed,” said Pilling. ‘It’swriting,it’sediting,it’sworking ondeadlines,it’sinterviewing andit’sa million other skills that youcan’tfully learn in a classroom.My time working forCedarvillehelpedrefine them all,regardless of which field I chose.”

Many more former student writers haveleveragedtheir PR experience at Cedarville for meaningful careers—some outside of the communication profession.

Hannah (Fair) Kahn, who graduated in 2020 with abachelor of arts in English,pursued graduate education in English with a certificate in public relations and advertising —in part due to her work for Cedarville’s PR department from 2017–19. Now, Kahn uses those skills as she teaches at Lancaster Bible College and Capital Seminary and Graduate School in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

“I learned PR skills are immensely valuable and transferable to any job,” said Kahn. “Being able to write, communicateand represent an organization well is always valuable. I have continued to build on the skills that I developed as a student PR writer through the opportunities that I have at Lancaster Bible College.”

Likewise,Alex Boesch,who graduated in 2023,creditshis time working for PRas the beginningofhis career.Boeschisnowpursuinghisdoctoral degreein interpersonal and organizational communication at Ohio University while acting as a teaching associate andassistantdirector offorensics. During his time at Cedarville, Boesch was a part of the forensics team and a student writer.

“The most valuable part of my time with public relations waslearning how to talk to so many different people,on and offcampus,with so many backgrounds and unique stories,” said Boesch.“The ways Ilearned tospeakwithpeople and how to truly listen to themwhile makingthem feel heard is a skill that I use daily in my research,in my workplace and with my own students.”

WhileCedarville’s PR student writers over the yearshave made a lasting impact on Cedarville Universitythroughthe stories they have written, their impact hasalsobeen noticeable by media across the country.

There are media outlets that use the Cedarville PR writers as stringers, or freelance writers, for their organization.With a byline connected to their stories, the studentsare able todevelop a portfolio of their workwithreputable media outlets.This visibility helps the students to quickly start their careers after graduation.

Bryson Durst is a classic example. He worked in the PR department in his senior year, and the strength of his writing and the experience he gained paved the way for him to secure a writing position for the News-Herald in suburban Cleveland, Ohio,before he graduated.

“We always look forward to the stories coming from the student writers at Cedarville University because they are well thought out stories and accompanied with photos that help us share how young people are actively involved in innovation, helping others, sharing Jesusand growing lifelong friendships,” said Richard Hunt, news feature and digital content manager at K-LOVE Radio Network in Franklin, Tennessee. “It becomes very clear to us that Cedarville’s students get a customized education from professors who want to make a difference in the lives of tomorrow’s leaders.”

Cedarville’s PR team of student writers continue towritecompelling stories that are picked up by local,stateand national media outlets. Andin return, these students are gaining valuable experience that will lead them to meaningful professional careers—whether they go into PR or another communication field.

Located in southwest Ohio,Cedarville Universityis a Baptist university withundergraduateprograms in arts, sciences, and professional programs, andgraduateprograms.With an enrollment of 6,384 students in 175 areas of study, Cedarville is one of the largest private universities in Ohio and is recognized nationally for its authentic Christian community, rigorous academic programs, and high graduation and retention rates. For more information about the University, visitcedarville.edu.