With the recent Centers for Disease Control report showing that one in 49 children in New Jersey is identified with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the public relations students in Montclair State University\u2019s Communication Studies Department decided to do something to help.\u00a0 With Autism Awareness month nearing its close, the university\u2019s Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA), with help from the Fairleigh Dickinson University PRSSA, held a benefit night of comedy on Wednesday, April\u00a0 25, raising more than $2,000 for Autism New Jersey.<\/p>\n
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The event, called \u201cUniversities United Against Autism\u201d featured comedians Nancy Redman and Sunda Croonquist, and mentalist Manlow. Croonquist, who hosts All Star Comedy Night at The Laugh Factory in Los Angeles and was named New Jersey\u2019s \u201cFunniest Female Comic,\u201d flew in from California to headline the event.\u00a0\u00a0 Redman, a two-time winner of ABC television\u2019s \u201cAmerica\u2019s Funniest People,\u201d opened the show, and mentalist Manlow, who has appeared on \u201cThat\u2019s Impossible\u201d also entertained.\u00a0 Montclair State University student Emily Golloub and Kelsey Kistle, a Fairleigh Dickinson University junior, served as co-hosts.<\/p>\n
The Autism New Jersey fund-raiser was the latest example of the Department of Communication Studies\u2019 mission of offering its students real-world projects to provide them with a fuller educational experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is more on the line when you\u2019re creating a successful event, dealing with a real client like Autism New Jersey.\u00a0 It also gives us a chance to help make a difference,\u201d said Amanda Stampone, one of the Communication Studies students helping with on the fundraiser.<\/p>\n
Having the comedy event took a serious topic and allowed the autism community and students to come out and have an evening of fun.\u00a0 Autism New Jersey Communication Coordinator Jessica Barkowsky, who attended the event, declared the evening a \u201cresounding success,\u201d while the PRSSA students are hoping to double donations next year.<\/p>\n
Established in 1965, Autism New Jersey is a nonprofit agency that provides information, support and advocacy for families and professionals. With nearly five decades of experience, Autism New Jersey is dedicated to enhancing the overall awareness of ASDs and ensuring that all people with autism receive appropriate, effective services to maximize their potential.<\/em><\/p>\n The Montclair State University Public Relations Student Society of America, Redhawk Communication, was granted the state\u2019s fifth PRSSA chapter in 2008.\u00a0 Students in the Montclair State University Communication Studies Department won the 2006 United States Postal Service Executive Public Relations Challenge competition, performed public relations for 2006 and 2007 Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year, Lorena Ochoa, Hackensack University Medical Center\u2019s Maureen Fund, the 2009 Andy Kaufman Award, and the Curtain Call Award, an operatic competition for high school singers sponsored its first two years by the Metropolitan Opera Guild and this year by Opera New Jersey.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cAutism is No Joke\u201d Fund-raiser Brings in Entertainers From the East and West Coasts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":109869,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-college-of-communication-and-media-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/college-of-communication-and-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/college-of-communication-and-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/college-of-communication-and-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/college-of-communication-and-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/college-of-communication-and-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9869"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/college-of-communication-and-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9869\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":206873,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/college-of-communication-and-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9869\/revisions\/206873"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/college-of-communication-and-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/college-of-communication-and-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/college-of-communication-and-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/college-of-communication-and-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}