Public relations student nabs Durocher scholarship
Dec. 6, 2000
KALAMAZOO -- A Western Michigan University senior who plans to combine her passion for running with a career in public relations won one of two $2,000 scholarships from the Detroit Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America.
Public relations major Meg Sullivan was named one of two recipients of the Donald P. Durocher Memorial Scholarship. The award is named for a principal in the Detroit firm Dixson.Durocher.Werba, who was an active member of PRSA on local, regional and national levels. The scholarships are given to the authors of the best essays submitted in an annual contest.
Sullivan's essay was rated as one of the two best entries from among 24 entries submitted by students at six Michigan universities. Sullivan, who will graduate in April, is the daughter of Patrick and Helen Sullivan of Palos Heights, Ill. She also is a track athlete at WMU, competing in the 3,000-meter event and as a member of the cross-country team.
In her essay, Sullivan wrote of combining her love for running with a career in public relations, and her hopes to do so in Ireland. She made strides toward that goal by working for the Chicago Area Runners Association last summer, where she was a program assistant in the 18-week LaSalle Bank marathon-training program that prepares runners for the Chicago Marathon. In addition, she served a summer internship in 1999 with Chicago's Amateur Athlete, a popular running magazine in that community.
"In my future profession, I plan to combine my passion for sports and my training in public relations to make myself an asset to a sports organization," she wrote. "I see myself working for an organizationto help people discover how running can benefit their lives."
Sullivan says she plans to use the scholarship to further her knowledge and experience in public relations by working in Ireland for a year.
Media contact: Marie Lee, 616 387-8400, marie.lee@wmich.edu