During the fall 2022 semester, students in advertising and public relations professor Bryan Wang’s capstone course planned and executed a campaign to reduce targeted violence toward refugees for Invent2Prevent, a program that empowers university and high school students to develop innovative projects that help prevent targeted violence and terrorism in their local communities.
The Invent2Prevent program is funded by the Department of Homeland Security’s Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships (CP3), in collaboration with EdVenture Partners and the McCain Institute for International Leadership.
It was the first time the College of Journalism and Mass Communications entered the competition and Wang’s capstone class was one of the seven entries to receive an honorable mention amongst a total of 26 university teams.
The following schools were awarded honorable mentions by the judging team:
-
Alabama A&M University
-
Middlebury Institute of International Studies
-
San Jose State University
-
University of Arizona
-
University of Colorado at Boulder
-
University of Houston
-
University of Nebraska Lincoln
Livia Hauck, Director of Program Operations at EdVenture and Invent2Prevent Project Manager, said this was Invent2Prevent’s most competitive semester yet.
“The number of original ideas, tactics and topics put forth was extremely impressive,” Hauck said. “All schools are commended on the innovative and unique ways they positively impacted their local communities.”
Duke University, Texas Tech University and the University of South Carolina were named finalists and presented their projects to a panel of senior executives in Washington, D.C. last January where Duke University was awarded first place.
In an email to all participants Hauck shared her thanks for the students' commitment to their work.
“We sincerely hope you not only learned from the program but also enjoyed your time building and carrying out your projects,” Hauck said.
Following is a list of students who worked on the Invent2Prevent project, listed alphabetically by last name with their year in school, major(s) and hometown:
| Full Name | Year | Major(s) | Hometown |
| Carmella Bailey | Senior | advertising and public relations | Kansas City, MO |
| Frieda Nomenyo | Senior | advertising and public relations, political science | Omaha, NE |
| Shiheng Li | Senior | advertising and public relations | Pingdingshan, China |
| Maria Valdez | Senior | advertising and public relations | Grand Island, NE |
| Dulce Garcia | Senior | advertising and public relations, journalism | Alda, NE |
| Tessa Chicoine | Senior | advertising and public relations | Lincoln, NE |
| Xinyi Yang | Senior | advertising and public relations | Wuhan, China |
| Max Stoltenberg | Senior | advertising and public relations | Lincoln, NE |
| Ryan Schommer | Senior | advertising and public relations | Norfolk, NE |
| Elainey Ramaekers | Senior | advertising and public relations | Norfolk, NE |
