Two videos submitted by University Marketing and Communications into the CASE Circle of Excellence awards took top honors, including a Grand Gold for the video “Letters to Graduates.” CASE announced the 2024 winners on June 26.
This year, CASE — which stands for Council for Advancement and Support Education — received more than 4,223 entries from around the world, with 486 winners. Awards are judged locally and globally.
CASE’s Circle of Excellence Awards are the premier recognition program for educational advancement. These peer-selected and judged awards celebrate the talented staff at colleges, universities and schools worldwide who help to advance their institutions with resourcefulness and ingenuity.
The Grand Gold honor — a first for Fresno State — signifies that judges considered the entry “game-changing” from among the entries received.
In “Letters to Graduates,” Fresno State surprised three graduates with messages from their families. The messages reminded the grads of their relentless work to get to this point and the lasting impact that their Bulldog success will have on themselves, their families and their communities. The featured graduates were overwhelmed with emotion after hearing heartfelt words from their parents, siblings and children and shared their thoughts on how this accomplishment reaches well beyond themselves.
Judges said of the project: “The video was seamless and completely student-focused, making it something that was truly meaningful and galvanizing for the graduating class. Capturing the family members in their homes provided significant texture and context and celebrated the diversity of Fresno State students.”
The video titled ” A Season to Celebrate” earned a silver award in the Holiday/Year-end category. Fresno State created an end-of-year video that not only reflected achievements from the past year but also fostered a sense of Bulldog pride and unity across all university audiences. “A Season to Celebrate” blends the spirit of the holiday season with impactful proof points and engaging visuals, all woven together with an original music composition written and performed by a Fresno State student, Kristine Kemmer, cclass of 2024.
The CASE Circle of Excellence Awards showcase outstanding work in advancement services, alumni relations, communications, fundraising and marketing. The awards are open to professionals working at CASE member colleges, universities, independent schools and their affiliated nonprofits around the world.
The CASE awards come on the heels of several earlier awards. Fresno State earned four honors from the Central California Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Image Awards in May. The winning entries were:
- Special Award, Award of Excellence, Campaign of the Year — Bulldog Bound, a new guaranteed admissions program that creates pathways to Fresno State from local participating school districts. All promotional efforts that went into this program were highlighted including video, website, flyer, press conference, collateral, etc.
- Project Awards:
- Award of Excellence, Magazine — Fresno State Magazine (Fall 2023). The “Faces of Fresno State” issue highlighted remarkable students who are at the heart of Fresno State — past, present and future.
- Award of Excellence, Photograph — a stadium shot at sunset last fall taken by university photographer Cary Edmondson.
- Award of Excellence, Video: Washington Monthly Rankings.
