Because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Rutgers University held Rutgers Day virtually for the second year in a row on Saturday, April 24. As part of the university’s celebration, SC&I held its own Rutgers Day events specifically designed for the SC&I community.

Coordinated by Erin McDonald, '21, a senior majoring in communication and SC&I’s Special Events Intern during the spring semester, the exciting day included a SC&I Scavenger Hunt; a virtual tour of  SC&I;  a live “Coffee and Conversation” event; and a live SC&I trivia contest.

The first live event of the day was “Coffee and Conversation,” which featured current Master of Communication and Media student Tianna Bradford ‘20 and MCM alumna Shakira Monet Johnson ‘02, MCM ‘04, who chatting over coffee about Johnson’s experiences as a SC&I undergraduate and graduate student and her career in communication. Johnson is the founder and Creative Director of her own company, Johnson PR & Events. She is also the director of Community Outreach and Development at the Public Relations Society of America.

Throughout their conversation, Johnson described the hardships she endured during her undergraduate career at Rutgers, which she overcame, and ultimately led her to her current success as the multi-faceted communication professional she is today.

“Think about all the trials and tribulations you’ve been through,” Johnson said. “When you accomplish things, especially something you put your mind to, you have to celebrate that so you have some joy.”

Johnson’s tips for networking? “Don’t be afraid to keep conversations going with people by checking in with them regularly; supporting them when they have events; liking and sharing their posts on social; these are all things we can do from home.”

Bradford also talked about her experiences as a SC&I student, and said, “If your ‘why’ doesn’t make you cry, it’s not your ‘why,’” Bradford said about finding your purpose.

The event even featured a shout-out from Bradford’s father who attended the event.  A recording of the Coffee and Conversation event is available on SC&I’s YouTube channel for those who were unable to tune in live on Rutgers Day.

Running simultaneously throughout the day were a SC&I-themed scavenger hunt and a tour of the building. The scavenger hunt enabled students to upload photos of their favorite Rutgers memories on social media. Winners will receive a SC&I t-shirt in the fall when the SC&I community can safely return to campus.

The tour of the SC&I building was very popular, as people who have not visited campus for so long because of the pandemic were happy to see the building again. Prior to Rutgers Day McDonald visited campus to film the virtual tour, which is now available to view on SC&I’s YouTube channel.

“We know you haven’t been in SC&I in over a year, so we wanted to bring a little bit of SC&I to you in this video tour,” McDonald said in the video as she showed areas of the building where the SC&I community would gather pre-pandemic.

The final live event was a virtual trivia game that McDonald created with the platform Kahoot. Viewers played along using their devices to answer the questions, which all pertained to SC&I and Rutgers history.

The winner of the trivia game was SC&I’s own Chair and Professor of Library and Information Science Marie Radford. The prize was a SC&I t-shirt that members of the SC&I strategic communication team wore throughout the Rutgers Day events.

“Watching the events that I planned come to life on Rutgers Day was a very rewarding experience,” McDonald said. “All of my hard work paid off when I saw how successful the events were! Planning this virtual event was definitely a challenging and unique learning experience. Going forward, events like virtual Rutgers Day will probably be a part of our new reality.

“I really enjoyed interning for the School of Communication and Information (SC&I) this Spring semester as their events intern. Even though it was a virtual internship, I learned so much valuable information and I had so much fun working with the other interns and staff. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat!”

Discover more about the Rutgers School of Communication and Information on the website.