Jon Mark Beilue: Making Sense of the Census

PR students vie in national contest to promote 2020 census, click here to count yourself

Navin Johnson rushed to a van where a man was delivering new phone books. He excitedly tore through the white pages until he found what he was looking for.

“Page 73, Johnson, Navin, R.! I’m somebody now!” he yelled. “Things are going to start happening for me now!”

It was actor Steve Martin in “The Jerk,” a classic movie nearly 40 years old. Phone books are almost a thing of the past, and, alas, so is Martin’s movie career. But everybody can still be somebody, especially if that somebody is a West Texas A&M University student.

Sophia Britto will be glad to tell you that. So will Darby Sparkman, Jessie Joseph, Katy Zimmerman and Hannah Frick. 

“We’re wanting you to be the Plus One in the 2020 census,” Britto said in a condensed sales pitch. “You’re important to WT and the community. You’re important to the United States. You’re worth $1,578. If you’re not counted, that’s how much your community is losing.”

The five are from 1910 PR, a student-run public relations agency and PR practicum. Their goal, since they began meeting in December, is to turn over every rock – or at least use all the public relations tools at their disposal – to include every WT student in the 2020 census.

While they are the only ones so committed in doing so at WT, they aren’t the only ones on college campuses across the country. This is part of the Bateman Competition, the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) national case study contest where students implement a full public relations campaign on a singular national subject.

Each year, it’s a different subject. A year ago, it was on ways to improve diversity in the public relations field. In 2020, it’s obviously the census, which is taken nationally every 10 years at the start of the decade.

“One of the unique parts this year is applying this locally to your area,” said Kimberly Bruce, associate lecturer in mass communications, and in her eighth year as faculty advisor in the Bateman Competition. “They know the audience they have to reach, and then, they take it directly to WT. It’s a super neat opportunity for them, and it’s very hands-on. It reaches the people they know best.”

To level the competition playing field, there’s a few Bateman Competition rules – teams across college campuses can only spend $300 and only gift or in-kind gifts of up to $1,000.  The contest began on Feb. 10 and concludes March 20.

Sparkman, the only holdover from the 2019 team that was a national finalist, had the idea of “Plus One” as a brand. Britto designed the logo – “Plus One, Be Ours for the 2020 Census.”

Public relations elements included social media and just old-fashioned face-to-face meetings with student groups which stressed the importance of being counted in the census.

The PR students met with Clavio Garansuay, a regional census coordinator, to brief them on frequently asked questions. Yes, it’s private. And, no, there is no cost. April 1 is National Census Day, which is when the public receives an invitation to participate in the census. Discussion points on the census importance include apportionment, redistricting, amount of government funding, planning and emergency response.

Meeting the public began on Feb. 10 with a presentation for the Hispanic Student Association, and included, among others, a Valentine Day’s event at the Jack B. Kelley Commons, a table at the Distinguished Lecture Series that featured 1960s civil rights activist Joanne Bland, and at a Faculty Research Fair last week.

“One of our initial goals was to make sure the presentation given to students was being processed in their minds and would stick in their heads,” Britto said. “Just to let people know how important it is to be documented was big. I think we’ve done a pretty good job so far.”

Along with that is the production of an approximate 3-minute video which is set for a March 16 release. It will include interviews with a varied group of students in their environment – a track athlete, Greek life, engineering, music and nursing students with all of them saying the importance of being counted.

And no PR campaign is complete without swag. They’ve given away notebooks and pens. On March 10, 100 shirts will be given with the Plus One logo to those who stop at their table and fill out a quick survey.

There’s a quick two-week turnaround to submit competition material which is a digital summary of the campaign that includes a link to their video and other visual aids. Last year’s summary was 15 pages.

Feedback will arrive by April 23. Teams are graded on a scale to 100 and are evaluated on research, planning, implementation, creativity and capturing the mission. Last year’s national finalist scored an 86.

“They’ve done a good job of writing for the summary as they’ve gone along, and tried to stay ahead of this as much as possible,” Bruce said. “It’s hard to keep going when other class assignments pile up, but the enthusiasm has stayed strong.”

Click HERE to participate in the 2020 census.

Do you know of a student, faculty member, project, an alumnus or any other story idea for “WT: The Heart and Soul of the Texas Panhandle?” If so, email Jon Mark Beilue at jbeilue@wtamu.edu.

—WTAMU—