A student-led public relations firm partnered with the Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency to host a week-long organ donation awareness event.
The event was split into three segments: A tabling event in Free Speech Alley, a guided Walk for Life along sorority row and an afterparty at Zee Zees.
For the last three months students in Professor Sadie Wilks’ public relations class have been working as part of the Magnolia Media team, a student-led PR firm that works with organizations to create campaigns targeted to college students.
Over the course of the semester, the team creates one campaign as their PR capstone project. The students each take on a different position in the firm, from event director to research director to account executive.
“We’re operating like a real PR firm to try and get insight as to how the real world is going to be after graduation,” said Madeline Erickson, the media relations director of the project and a mass communications senior.
Erickson and her team spent months researching and planning their campaign with LOPA.
Community Educator and Media Specialist for LOPA Lori Steele said the organization’s primary goal is to spread awareness and educate about organ donation.
“We’ve been working with LSU for over a decade,” Steele said. “Students come in with new ideas, they learn about organ donation, they teach their friends, and they create events that bring people to the table.”
Many Americans believe that being an organ donor reduces the quality of healthcare an individual may receive, which dissuades many from registering.
“Our number one myth is that if you have a heart on your license, doctors won’t work as hard to save your life—but that’s not true,” Steele said.
The Magnolia Media team spent three months conducting research to find the best way to present this information to students.
The tabling event at Free Speech Alley included games and prizes for students, as well as a chance to pie a professor for donations to LOPA.
They also created a banner competition for students to vote on banners designed by LSU sororities for the event. The banners were displayed during the Walk for Life, where students could vote for the best one.
The Walk for Life also had four interactive stations along sorority row. The first one displayed common misconceptions about organ donation, the next two provided information about registering, and the last was a banner voting station.
The night ended with an afterparty at ZeeZees complete with karaoke, trivia and mocktails. Alpha Delta Pi was announced as the winner of the banner competition.
“We’re trying to get rid of all the myths that surround organ donation and just start positive conversation around organ donation,” said Isabella Pesson, event director of the campaign and a senior mass communications major.
