TCU Magazine earns gold for storytelling
TCU Marketing & Communication were three-peat winners in this year’s international Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) awards. In communications, TCU Magazine earned gold for storytelling and marketing brought home two silver awards.
“This is the very first time we entered submissions for this award, and we walked away winners – very exciting,” said Tracy Syler-Jones, vice chancellor of TCU Marketing & Communication. “We have a special team, and it’s great to receive recognition from the largest international professional organization for advancement members.”
All three awards were given in the Circle of Excellence category, which, according to CASE, celebrates the creative, resourceful and innovative ways universities champion their institutional success.
The Never Too Late to Say His Name story package earned TCU Magazine a top prize.
“Investigative reporting, broad stakeholder engagement, history, great use of faculty and alumni experts, and a truly integrated strategy to drive engagement with the story,” wrote the judges. “This is a consummate example of ‘only at a university’ – cross-disciplinary collaboration has created an original, local and relatable take on a chapter of U.S. history that needs to be preserved.”
The piece included extensive research to create a feature story, video and a live panel discussion. The article originally set out to explore professor Adam McKinney’s multifaceted racial reconciliation project intended to honor Fred Rouse, a Black person lynched in Fort Worth in 1921.
“Professor McKinney’s work is compelling and very important,” editor Caroline Collier said. “If even 100 people around the country were trying this hard to excavate and address these gaping historical injustices, we’d be living in a much-improved society. As difficult as it is, we do need to look back before we can move forward.”
Read more about the development of the story.
To elevate TCU’s academic reputation among a peer audience, the TCU marketing team
produced the silver-winning ReWire: A Movement for the Greater Good. The video showcases how TCU dance professor Nina Martin stepped out of a research
silo to collaborate with chemistry professor Eric Simanek to study how her ReWire
dance practice could be used as a therapeutic technique for those living with movement
disorders like cerebral palsy.
“The video’s striking images hold the attention of the viewer,” wrote the judges. “There was a good use of multiple voices to tell the story and anchor the importance of the work.”
The marketing team was also awarded silver for its efforts to connect admitted students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dubbed the TCU Yield Campaign, it consisted of a well-paced, late-cycle direct mail campaign that included a lottery-style scratch-off postcard, unexpected and interactive swag, and opportunities for the entire family to connect with unique prizes. It was a contrast to the more common virtual efforts embraced during the pandemic.
“Very cool campaign that followed a thoughtful integrated visual design,” wrote the CASE judges. “The messaging was clear and provided engaging and interactive ways for their audience to take action and achieve their desired outcomes. They ‘increased’ enrollment during the melt period. This is fantastic ROI, especially given the pandemic. This team recognized the challenge, engaged the data they had access to, and took action.”
Chancellor Victor J. Boschini, Jr. also expressed his impression.
“Many in the TCU community had a hand in the success that led to these awards by contributing to the writing, planning, editing, filming, promoting and producing of the pieces. Suffice to say, it takes all of us to make these stories shine,” he said. “I extend my hearty kudos to Vice Chancellor Tracy Syler-Jones and the remarkable MKC team.”