The FAMU Office of Communications was presented the Award of Excellence by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) for its production of the commercial, FAMU Taught Me.
With the tagline, FAMU Taught Me, the 30-second video is intended to give viewers an inside look at the FAMU experience and the impact FAMU has had on its alumni and the nation. The commercial, which features FAMU student and saxophonist Bernard Jackson, was also designed to increase student enrollment and promote the university.
“We wanted to show our stakeholders and potential students that being a part of the FAMU experience can lead to successful lives and careers,” said Chief Communications Officer Sharon Saunders. “It was a very competitive competition and I am very proud of our staff in the Office of Communications. The production of this commercial was definitely a team effort.”
The CASE Awards honors outstanding achievements from educational institutions in the areas of in alumni relations, communications, fundraising and marketing.
During the video, which was filmed on FAMU’s campus, Jackson details what he has learned as a student at FAMU, and how the university has prepared him to perform at any stage of his music career.
“If you are in corporate America and you see successful people talking about where they went to college, you’re more inclined to say, ‘I want to go there, recruit students and develop a partnership with this university,’” Saunders said. “Potential students want to also attend an institution that can produce talented professionals.”
The FAMU Taught Me campaign will be an ongoing series of commercials that will feature various alumni, such as Democratic National Committee Press Secretary Melanie Roussell, movie producer Will Packer and philanthropist Bernard Kinsey.