Eleven graduate students in the elections and campaign management program at Fordham have won or shared Student Pollie Awards given by the American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC). The awards span several categories, including Best Television Ad, Best Radio Ad and Best Website.
Awarded annually by the AAPC, the Pollies are the most prestigious awards in the political campaign and public affairs industry. This year, Fordham students received more Pollie Awards in more categories than any other program.
Fordham’s Pollie Award recipients are:
• Joseph Ferris (writer and producer), John Farrelly and Vincent Azzinaro(producers) for Best Television Ad (Gold): “Send Mr. Smith Back to Washington”
• John Farrelly for Best Website (Gold): “College Democrats”
• Jennifer Burner (writer and producer), Maggie Seidel, Nuria Ferragutcasas andAmanda Martini (producers) for Best Television Ad (Bronze): “It’s Time”
• John Farrelly for Best Website (Bronze): “Bill Stachov”
• Jennifer Burner for Best Radio Ad (Bronze): “The Economy”
• Hailey Wierzbicki (writer and producer), Rich Alicea, Alison Walsh and Sean Jacobus (producers) for Best Television Ad (Honorable Mention): “Main Street”
“We are so proud of our students, and delighted that the AAPC has recognized these students for excellence in political advertising,” said Costas Panagopoulos, Ph.D., director of the master’s program in elections and campaign management (ECM) at Fordham. “The Pollie winners exemplify the standard of excellence that students in the ECM program are trained to achieve.”
Most of the entries that Fordham students submitted were created as part of the “Strategies and Mechanisms of Political Communication” course co-taught during the fall 2008 term by veteran instructors and leading political strategists Joseph Mercurio and Bart Robbett.
“The AAPC Student Pollies are a great way for students to receive national recognition for work in their campaigns,” said Angela McMillen, executive director of the AAPC. “Our entries increased 60 percent over last year, and we hope this continues to grow.”
The AAPC is a multi-partisan trade association with more than 2,500 members from all 50 states, territories and other countries. Membership reflects a wide range of ideologies, partisan affiliations and professional specialties, and includes students and academics.
