Claflin educator gets national PR honor

Dr. Luis Almeida is interim chair of the Claflin University Mass Communications Department,

Every year, PRNEWS puts together a number of awards to recognize outstanding contributions to the profession.

Among the honors is the Social Impact Award recognizing leaders nationwide who are making an impactful contribution in the field of public relations and communications. Dr. Luis Almeida, interim chair of the Claflin University Mass Communications Department, was once again honored to be selected as the HBCU Educator of the Year.

"My goal as an educator is to enable student creativity. It is also to empower pupils to design and develop outstanding and impactful media artifacts and social campaigns," Almeida said.

Almeida’s hands-on and empowering nature of teaching, and its impact on how students create media content in the department, is how PRNEWS interpreted his candidacy for outstanding contributions to teaching African American students.

Almeida is recognized nationwide as an expert in teaching media production to African American students.

Almeida said the award “is a big honor that is often received by faculty members of large schools,” but he hopes his win will increase the Claflin brand equity among influential leaders in PR and communications nationwide.

"Claflin University is now listed among selected other prestigious universities in the nation as an institution of higher learning that advances social impact through communication, an honor reserved only for the very best," Almeida said.

Almeida said his plan for the Mass Communications Department is to “position the department to become the first HBCU accredited school of journalism and mass communications in South Carolina and one of the most innovative academic units in mass communications on the East Coast of the United States."

He hopes to do this by bringing elevation and transformation to Claflin and the Orangeburg community.

“I dream big because Claflin is big," Almeida said.

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