{"id":401726,"date":"2026-07-17T03:17:59","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T03:17:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/401726\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T03:17:59","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T03:17:59","slug":"usc-dornsife-storytelling-earns-5-top-honors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/401726\/","title":{"rendered":"USC Dornsife storytelling earns 5 top honors"},"content":{"rendered":"

The USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences earned five prestigious awards for marketing and communications work that spans digital campaigns, videos, magazine publication and journalism.<\/p>\n

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) awarded USC Dornsife two golds and one silver in its 2026 Circle of Excellence Awards, an international competition recognizing outstanding work in educational advancement. This year\u2019s competition drew nearly 4,200 entries from more than 600 institutions in 33 countries.<\/p>\n

Separately, the Los Angeles Press Club awarded first place to USC Dornsife Magazine: The Life Issue<\/a> and to a USC Dornsife News profile by Darrin Joy, senior director of strategic and scientific communication, at its 68th Southern California Journalism Awards.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat makes these honors especially meaningful is the range of work they recognize: strategic marketing, inventive video and first-rate journalism,\u201d said Jim Key, senior associate dean for communication and marketing. \u201cEach award reflects the talent and collaboration of people who thrive on finding creative, compelling ways to connect audiences with USC Dornsife.\u201d<\/p>\n

Summer enrollment campaign earns CASE gold\"Circle<\/p>\n

The Just One GE<\/a> campaign earned gold in the CASE category for marketing initiatives at institutions with more than 25 staff members.<\/p>\n

Created through a partnership between USC Dornsife\u2019s Office of Communication and Office of Creative Content, the campaign employed digital ads, emails, video and social media to encourage undergraduates to take one general education course during the summer. It paired a student-friendly message \u2014 \u201cOne class. Less stress. Summer vibes.\u201d \u2014 with a website that made it easier to explore courses by GE requirement and format.<\/p>\n

Summer enrollment increased 36.5% year over year, exceeding the campaign\u2019s 25% goal, while course cancellations fell 29%.<\/p>\n

CASE judges called it \u201ca smart, highly targeted enrollment initiative\u201d that paired a simple concept with strong execution. They also praised its efficient use of resources, focused messaging and thoughtful audience segmentation.<\/p>\n

Professors reacting to student reviews takes video gold\"Circle<\/p>\n

CASE also awarded gold to \u201cProfessors Surprised with Students\u2019 Reviews<\/a>,\u201d produced by Multimedia News Director Katie Kim Scott and videographer Mike Glier.<\/p>\n

Inspired by the format of celebrities reading mean tweets, the short featured USC Dornsife professors\u2019 candid reactions to anonymous student evaluations. Their unscripted responses highlighted the impact of excellent teaching while giving students and alumni a personal look at faculty members across disciplines.<\/p>\n

Screened during USC Dornsife\u2019s 2025 commencement ceremony, the video reached more than 25,000 graduates, family members, friends, faculty and guests. It also generated more than 70,000 Instagram views and reached 40,000 accounts. CASE judges called the concept compelling and impactful for current and prospective students.<\/p>\n

Online magazine receives CASE silver\"Circle<\/p>\n

The online editions of USC Dornsife Magazine<\/a>\u2019s \u201cLife\u201d and \u201cFamily<\/a>\u201d issues received silver in the CASE online magazine category.<\/p>\n

Led by editor in chief Susan Bell, creative director Letty Avila and associate editor Margaret Crable, with visual design by graphic designer Rhiannon Montelius, the magazine\u2019s online editions go beyond reproducing print articles by adapting stories for digital reading and extending them through multimedia and public programming.<\/p>\n

Magazine website visits increased 71% from 2024 to 2025. CASE judges praised the publication\u2019s engaging long-form journalism and animation.<\/p>\n

Magazine and alumni profile win first place for journalism\"Black-and-white<\/p>\n

At the Southern California Journalism Awards, the Los Angeles Press Club named the \u201cLife\u201d issue of USC Dornsife Magazine\u00a0as the top in-house or corporate publication.<\/p>\n

Judges called it \u201ca beautifully ambitious and thought-provoking collection\u201d that explores the complexity and wonder of life through rich storytelling and interdisciplinary insight.<\/p>\n

Joy received first place for personality profile writing in the film and television category for \u201cActor earns philosophy PhD on his way to major movie and television roles<\/a>.\u201d The compelling story profiles USC Dornsife alumnus Luka Jones, who completed a doctorate in philosophy<\/a> while building a successful film and television career.<\/p>\n

Judges praised the piece as \u201cgreat writing\u201d that was \u201cwell thought out, and expertly written,\u201d noting the strength of its connection between Jones\u2019 university experience and acting career.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences earned five prestigious awards for marketing and communications work…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":401727,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[94792,48,52,51,47,50,49],"class_list":["post-401726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-awards-and-honors","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401726"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401726\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/401727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}