(New Orleans)—Lauren Jaffe, a communications major and treasurer of the Public Relations Students Society of America (PRSSA) at Loyola, competed in New York as a finalist in the PRWeek’s PR student of the year competition. PRWeek is a leading weekly magazine for public relations practitioners.

The competition winner will receive a $5,000 cash prize and a paid internship with the award sponsor, Weber Shandwick. Two runners-up will receive a $1,000 cash prize and a paid internship with Weber Shandwick. Plus, all five short-listed students received a paid trip to New York for the final day of judging, and will get a paid invitation to the PRWeek Awards on March 6.

Jaffe, a junior from Tulsa, Okla., was chosen as a finalist after creating a proposal, a pitch letter and a news release for the client, Ray-Ban, in December. For the finals in late January, contestants developed a client presentation, a reporter pitch and a mock crisis scenario and presented these to a panel of four judges. The other contestants are from the University of Virginia, the University of Southern California, Southern Methodist University and Kennesaw State University.

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