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Thank you for supporting the Robin Street Public Relations Student Support Fund! Your gifts will help UM students while honoring one of best professors.
While this campaign has ended, you can still make a gift by visiting umfoundation.com/ignite.
To Honor Longtime Teacher and Mentor, Give to Public Relations Students
Beloved senior lecturer Robin Street will retire from full-time teaching May 31, ending her 30-year career with the University of Mississippi School of Journalism and New Media.
Street has taught and influenced hundreds of aspiring public relations and communication professionals. Year after year, Street led students to produce campaigns that won statewide and even national competitions.
She helped generations of UM public relations students acquire internships, hone their skills and build successful careers. Now, with your help, Street can continue to serve students for years after her retirement.
The School of Journalism and New Media has established the Robin Street Public Relations Students Support Fund to offer financial support to public relations students pursuing internships, attending conferences and entering competitions. The fund also will establish the Robin Street Outstanding Public Relations Student Award to be presented annually.
Many former students credit Street with shaping their communications career. They often write her to say they are using what they learned on the job, or they still hear her voice in their head when deciding how to handle a PR situation.
Scott Fiene, assistant dean for curriculum and assessment and associate professor of integrated marketing communications, said Street has a unique way with students that fosters learning.
“Plain and simple, students love her,” he said. “And it’s not just what she does in the classroom but the way she gets to know students personally, connects with them and stays in touch after they graduate. She is a known public relations figure in the region, and has the respect and admiration, not only of students and former students, but others in the industry.”
School of Journalism and New Media Dean Will Norton said he believes many of Street’s former students and colleagues will want to participate in the fund to show her their appreciation for her dedication to her profession and her students.
“Because Robin has taught writing intensely, she has raised public relations instruction to a new level,” Norton said. “When she talks about her students, her care and concern for students is apparent. I know she will miss teaching. It has become a part of her DNA.”
Public relations students need financial support because getting a job after graduation depends on more than just grade-point average. To work in PR, students must have internships, hands-on experiences and, often, awards for their work. Students regularly take unpaid internships instead of paying summer jobs, or they must pay entry fees and travel to attend competitions. The Robin Street Public Relations Students Support Fund will make internships and competitions accessible to all.
Supporting students is the perfect way to honor Street’s years of dedication to them and to the School of Journalism and New Media.
“The school has meant so much to me, both as a graduate student and as an instructor,” Street said. “After my first class in the journalism school, I knew I had found my home.”
Please give to the effort!
Give $30 to honor every year Robin Street has taught and mentored University of Mississippi students. Upon retirement, she was one of the longest-running UM journalism professors ever.
Street's students have dominated the student awards from the Public Relations Association of Mississippi, winning 150 over the years. On the left, check out a small number of Street's best and brightest award-winning students.
In a typical year, Robin Street managed to give personal attention, instruction and career advice to 375 students.
In her 491 class, Street pushed students to seek internships and guided them to create real-world campaigns for clients. Her class prepared generations of students to start successful careers in PR.
Street estimates she has 1,000 former students who are working public relations professionals around the globe. Every year, she has launched students from Farley Hall to top corporations and PR firms.
To give so much of yourself to 375 students every year means hours and hours spent grading projects to give everyone the personal attention they deserve. In her 30 years in UM journalism, Street estimates that she's graded around 2,500 projects!