A&M students to take part in DHS Challenge

TEXARKANA, Texas — Texas A&M University-Texarkana is one of 25 schools in the country invited to participate in this spring’s Department of Homeland Security Collegiate Invent2Prevent Violence Challenge.

This project, in collaboration with EdVenture Partners, gives TAMU-T students an opportunity to put their education to work within the framework of a class.

Students in the university’s Marketing Promotions class have created an in-class working marketing agency, named Eagle iSite. They are responsible for implementing an integrated marketing campaign aimed at educating and informing their local campus about the benefits of unifying our campus to reduce violence and terrorism.

“We’re just hoping to get the students to be aware of ways to find out fake news without accepting it at face value, by giving them a site that they’re able to do that or find resources by finding out themselves,” said Dina Calhoun, student public relations lead for the class.

Students will use research surveys and other tools to learn more about

DHS’s target audience. After the students have analyzed their findings, they will create and implement their strategy to raise awareness of the benefits of unifying students against violence and terrorism.

“It is a very involved project,” said Adjunct Marketing Professor Michelle Wicmandy. “It takes a lot of time from students to collaborate and get all of it together to present.”

Students will receive a $2,000 budget to help them bring their plans to life.

At the end of the term, students will measure their success through follow-up research and give a formal presentation to DHS summarizing their campaign and results.

“There have been so many positive experiences already, just working together as a team to create something that will help not just our students, but our community,” Calhoun said. “As these students put this project together, it’s creating rules of leadership that will benefit the college and the community here in Texarkana.”