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Sept. 27, 2006
Contact: Gordon
Ovenshine: 724-738-4854; gordon.ovenshine@sru.edu
SRU HIRES VETERAN COMMUNICATOR, FORMER
NEWSPAPER EDITOR
AS NEW EXECUTIVE
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC RELATIONS
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. -- Slippery Rock
University President Robert Smith has named Rita Abent, a higher
education marketing and communication administrator and former
newspaper editor, to be SRU’s next executive director of
public relations. She starts Oct. 30.
“Abent has
more than 30 years experience in the marketing and communication
field,” Smith said. “Most recently she served 10 years
as executive director for marketing and communication at Eastern
Michigan University where she is credited with helping design and
implement the university’s first comprehensive enrollment
marketing campaign and leading the effort to migrate communication
from print to electronic media.”
“I’m very excited about
the opportunity at Slippery Rock University and am honored to be
selected for this important leadership position,” Abent said.
“I’m looking forward to working with President Smith,
staff, faculty and students to help tell the SRU story in new and
dynamic ways.”
She began her career at Eastern Michigan as
director of student media and led the university’s
independent student newspaper to its first Associated Press
Sweepstakes Award and numerous five-star All-America ratings by the
Associated Collegiate Press. In recognition of her leadership, the
College Media Advisers, Inc. named Abent the National Adviser of
the Year in 1987.
At EMU,
Abent provided leadership for the development of a Web
communication office and supervised the institution’s first
Web Style and Standards Guide. She also developed an e-newsletter
and e-postcards as a means for increasing awareness among state
legislators and other important constituents.
“My
passion for the value of higher education and my belief in the
positive impact it can have in the life of an individual student,
the community and the state is what drives me,” she
said.
Abent served for two
years as editor of the Hollywood Sun, a community newspaper in
Hollywood, Fla. Under her leadership, the paper won numerous
Florida Press Association awards for writing, editing, photography
and design. During her tenure as editor, she led the efforts
to launch community newspapers in several Florida
communities.
She received her
bachelor’s degree from Central Michigan University with a
double major in journalism and physical education. She earned her
master of arts in educational communication from Syracuse
University.
She
is involved with number of community service groups, including the
United Way, American Red Cross and Habitat for
Humanity.
#PN, PR,
PgN
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