July 11, 2007                                                     Vol 8. No. 14

Canisius Wins Best of Show at PRSA Excalibur Awards
 
Debra S. Park MS '06, associate vice president for public relations and Eileen C. Herbert '04 associate director of public relations with their PRSA awards.
The Canisius College Department of Public Relations won a Platinum Excalibur Award, or "Best of Show," and a Gold Excalibur Award from the Buffalo/Niagara chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). The Platinum Award is PRSA's highest honor. The awards were presented at the chapter's 18th annual awards dinner on June 21.

Debra S. Park MS '06, associate vice president and Eileen C. Herbert '04 associate director, received the awards for "What's a Disputation?"  Due to their promotional efforts, the staged reading of The Disputation in fall 2006 performed to a sold-out audience in the college's Montante Cultural Center. The Disputation was brought to campus under the auspices of The Canisius College Center for the Global Study of Religion, Timothy Wadkins, PhD, director, in association with Temple Beth Zion, The Joan and Peter Andrews Family Foundation, Theater J. and co-produced by Jerome Neuner, PhD, associate vice president of academic affairs.

Canisius College Video Institute Wins Three PRSA Excaliburs

(l-r) Barbara J. Irwin, PhD, professor and chair of communication studies and director of the Canisius College Video Institute, Nina Cimino '06, Amy Falletta '06 and Melissa Wall '06.

Three videos produced by The Canisius College Video Institute, Barbara J. Irwin, PhD, director, also won Excalibur Awards. "HeARTstrings: The Guitars for Hope Project," which was designed to promote awareness of the Guitars for Hope public art project, received a Bronze Excalibur award. The video was produced by Nicholas Barone '06, Nina Cimino '06, Ignayra Ramos '06 and Mike Woeppel '06. "Frank Lloyd Wright's Rowing Boathouse," produced by Jennifer Eberhart '08 and Jesse Koch '08 also earned a bronze award. The purpose of the video was to assist the Frank Lloyd Wright Rowing Boathouse Corporation in their efforts to raise funds to build the Wright design as a working boathouse on the Buffalo Waterfront. 

A promotional video produced for Vive La Casa earned the video institute a Silver Excalibur Award.  Student producers included Kirsten Jahn '07, Melissa Wall '06, Bob Carbone '06, Jennifer Eberhart '08, Johnny Graves '07 and Amy Falletta '06.

Congratulations to Barbara J. Irwin, PhD, chair and professor of communication studies and director of The Canisius College Video Institute, and to her student producers. The Canisius College Video Institute is funded in part by the John R. Oishei Foundation. For more information about the video institute, click here.

Angelini Receives NYS Foreign Language Teachers' Award
 
Eileen M. Angelini, PhD, chair and associate professor of modern languages, is the 2007 recipient of the Ruth E. Wasley Distinguished Teacher Award (Post-Secondary) from the New York State Association of Foreign Language Teachers (NYSAFLT). 

The Ruth E. Wasley Distinguished Teacher Award (Post- Secondary) honors an educator who has demonstrated excellence in the classroom and has contributed greatly to the foreign language profession. The award is named after a former professor of education at SUNY Albany and president of NYSAFLT from 1963 to 1969.

Lawless is Assistant Director of Donor Relations and Special Events
Erin M. Lawless '00 MS '04 has been named assistant director of donor relations and special events in the College Relations Division. She previously was assistant director of campus life for Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. 

Lawless will assist in the planning, coordination and management of cultivation, recognition and stewardship events that support the college's development efforts. 

She holds a bachelor's degree in psychology and criminal justice and a master's degree in college student personnel administration, both from Canisius College.