2017 Capstone Colloquium showcases the best senior projects in each area

Fellow students, faculty, clients, alumni, family, and friends gathered in the Holliday Forum for our fourth annual Manship School Capstone Colloquium.

This event highlights the best of our senior projects from each of our four capstone classes, as well as the amazing work of our Manship School Statehouse Bureau and Dr. Lance Porter’s Create Lab class. The Capstone Colloquium gives our seniors the opportunity to present their projects in a professional setting.

Our capstone courses are designed to bring together the total body of knowledge that our students obtain during their time in the Manship School.

These students and their projects reflect the values of freedom of expression, ethics and diversity of ideas. The capstone projects showcase the application of critical and strategic thinking and research skills, and the ability to share information in a variety of ways in order to inform, educate and encourage individuals to act. These three main areas – values, knowledge and sharing of information – are the 1,2,3s of a Manship Education: Believe it, know it, share it.

Each area is represented at the Capstone Colloquium - Digital Advertising, Public Relations, Political Communication and Journalism. We also have two alternative capstones classes – the Statehouse Bureau class, where students cover the Louisiana legislature, and the Create Lab, where students from different concentrations work together to solve a digital problem for a client.

The projects were chosen by the professors who teach the capstone courses.

Dr. Porter’s Create Lab class represent our most recent addition to our capstone course offerings. This semester, a select group of students worked with Dialogue on Race Louisiana and developed a campaign called, “Hear and Be Heard.”

Team members include: Jessica Black, John Gavin Harp, Peyton Klemm, Mikala Morgan, and Adrian Vallejo.

 

The Journalism area project examined different facets of homelessness in Baton Rouge. Their capstone professors are Roxanne Dill and Cindy Carter.

The team members are: Avery Woodard (content producer/print), Jourdan Riley (print), Mario Jerez (broadcast), and Christine Aman (broadcast).

 
The Public Relations team worked with the Louisiana-Mississippi chapter of the ALS Association. Their campaign, “Joie de vivre,” sought to build awareness and rebrand the annual ALS fundraising gala, with the ultimate goal of increasing donations to the non-profit. Their capstone professor is Sadie Wilks.

The team members are: Malori Bezet, Mary Brechtel, Hailey Johnson, Madeline Neal, Ally Rennhoff, and Olivia Stricklin.

 

The Political Communication area formed an organization to raise awareness about the lack of mental health services on college campuses in Louisiana, focusing on the needs at LSU. They formed "Mental Health Care Advocates" to educate the public and raise awareness of the needs of students and the how to access assistance. Professor Bob Mann teaches this capstone course.

The team members are: Levi Bankston, Jasmine Bandy, Casey Chapman, and Kristina Edwards.

 

Rose Velasquez represented the Statehouse Program – a group of students who cover the Louisiana legislature for the Manship News Service.

 
Digital Advertising treated the audience to a preview of the campaign they developed for Tai Pei frozen foods. The group won first place in the Region 7 National Student Advertising Competition. They will compete in the semi-finals the first week in May – a win in that round would advance the team to nationals. Their capstone professor is Dr. Yongick Jeong.

Team members are: Drake Boudreaux, Caitlin Demarest, Ashley Monaghan, and Warren Travers.