CMU student PR organization promotes lifestyle magazine for contest

Central Michigan University’s chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) is participating in the Bateman Case Study Competition.

The PRSSA will be putting together a case study for the lifestyle magazine, ‘Culturs,’ that will be judged by PR professionals. The magazine’s mission is promote interest and connections with people from backgrounds that are multiethnic, multicultural, mixed race and geographically mobile. This includes immigrants, refugees and Third Culture kids and adults, which is kids who have spent a large amount of time outside their parent’s culture and adults who are immersed in and live in global locations different from their country of birth after turning 18.

“Our mission is to promote Culturs on CMU’S campus and Mt. Pleasant and connect diverse students with educational resources,” a press release from CMU’S PRSSA chapter said. “CMU has a large population of international students. As of Fall 2023, CMU has 1683 international students from 63 different countries. International students are in the Third Culture Adult category, and we hope to connect them to a resource that allows them to find community and resources while here on campus.”

The team will have between Feb. 5 and March 5 as an implementation period to roll out their campaign.

As a part of their work, the team will be holding Culturs workshops with international student Registered Student Organizations (RSOS) to spread Cultur’s message and allow international students to share their stories. Team members have also interviewd international students and professors about their stories as Third Culture Adults, which will be available through the CMU PRSSA website.

One of the people they’ve interview is Professor Chunbo

Ren who is previously from Beijing, China and moved around to different places for his work education, including Washington for his PH.D., before coming to Mt. Pleasant to teach.

“It is challenging to leave behind your home country for a brand-new lifestyle, especially going from a large city like Beijing to a small town,” Ren said. “But I was determined to come to the United States for my education. I tried so hard to know the American culture and act and think like an American, but eventually I came to terms with the fact that I grew up in a different country and will always have that influence. I think as long as you appreciate and enjoy the culture, trying to make a positive contribution, that is all that matters. But I am not stressing myself to be someone I’m not.

As a Chinese professor at CMU, I do my best to bring my culture into the classroom and share it with the students. I use international case studies and have been invited to guest speak in classes related to diversity and culture. Before the pandemic, I also coordinated an exchange program between CMU and Yantai University, the school I attended in China.”

For more information, visit cmuprssa.com and cultursmag.com.