Edelman CCCA hosts annual Spring Showcase & Recognition Day

On April 29 the Ric Edelman College of Communication & Creative Arts held its Spring Showcase & Recognition Day, an afternoon tribute to yearlong student excellence.

Divided into segments, an awards ceremony and a display of student work, the program has become an annual rite of spring – even if outside the Chamberlain Student Center, where the event was held, it hardly felt like it.

“It’s a beautiful fall day,” quipped Edelman CCCA Dean Sanford Tweedie, wryly commenting on the whipping cold, mid-spring storm outside.

Despite the dayslong storm, Tweedie noted a palpable cross campus energy, fueled by such developments as a beam signing that week for a Student Center expansion; the groundbreaking one day before on the Shreiber School of Veterinary Medicine – New Jersey’s first – on Rowan University’s West Campus; and the opening of Nerd Street’s esports center in partnership with the Edelman CCCA.

“It really is an exciting time to be part of the university,” Tweedie said.

The showcase program included a recognition of the college’s Medallion Award winners, outstanding students from Art; Journalism; Public Relations & Advertising; Radio, Television & Film; and Writing Arts, as well as scholarship recipients.

Three-time Rowan alumnus and Rowan University Foundation Board member David Burgin, who with his daughter, alumna Brighid (Burgin) Hoempler, funded the college’s Burgin Leadership Scholarship, said they did so to support non-traditional students from underrepresented populations who exhibit strong leadership potential.

“We’ve both enjoyed wonderful careers since graduating from Rowan and wanted to contribute to the University’s future in a meaningful way,” said Burgin, who also serves on the Edelman CCCA’s Advisory Board.

Before and after the awards ceremony, students from many college programs displayed projects they’d worked on all year.

Rebecca Green, a student in the college’s Master of Arts in Writing program, was among several students showing copies of Glassworks, a literary journal.

“We get submissions from all over the world,” Green said.

Green, an associate editor of the magazine, said she landed a job in medical publishing that she starts after Commencement this month.

“I think this experience, working on Glassworks, definitely helped me get it,” Green said.

To see all of this year’s medallion award and scholarships winners, please visit the Edelman CCCA Commencement page.