Sophie Saint-Firmin, News Editor
On Sunday, Feb. 24, Asbury University’s Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) hosted a party to celebrate the 91st Academy Awards. Asbury’s PRSSA is an official student organization as well as a branch of one of the largest public relations professional organizations in the world, the Public Relations Society of America. The Asbury chapter of the PRSSA was founded in 2017, and the Oscar party was one of the main events the group believed would cater to the likes of all the film lovers on campus while also promoting the new organization.
“Students in the Asbury PRSSA are creative communicators and believe that hosting the annual Oscar party is a way to celebrate both creativity and cultural engagement while fostering community among students at Asbury,” said Todd Wold, assistant professor of communication and public relations.
Hosted in the Miller Screening Room, this was the second annual Oscars Party. The event started by showing the red carpet pre-show event and playing Oscars trivia games, in which winners were awarded movie gift baskets as prizes. There was also an Oscar ballot contest where students had the chance to predict the winners for each category. The two students who guessed the most categories correctly received tickets to the 2019 Asbury Highbridge Film Festival and a T-shirt, and first place also received a Fandango gift card.
PRSSA also provided a variety of snacks and drinks like popcorn, candy and soda. “We kept running out of candy and water, so we had to make a couple trips to replenish, which is awesome because that meant we had more people come out than expected,” said Meredith Brumfield, president of PRSSA.
The event was well received by the students and campus. “We nearly filled the screening room this year, and Asbury students made for a rousing, fun crowd of film fans as the awards were announced,” said Wold. “Students enjoy taking a break near midsemester to take in the broadcast together.”
