From the Nominator

The video "Gen Z Students Write Year-End Script at Kent State" was created by the university’s social media team to highlight the university’s achievements, showcase the engaging personality of President Todd Diacon, and put a Kent State University spin on a viral social media trend. The strategic goal was to represent the student body’s voice by leveraging a trend popular among Gen Z, increasing social media engagement while highlighting student creativity, the president’s personality and connection with the student body, and the university’s success. The target audience included current students, prospective students, and the broader social media community. The video featured Gen Z students meeting President Diacon to review a script they wrote using popular slang. While the typical trend had the non-Gen Z individual reading the final script, our twist had the students explain their word choices to the president, who then added props to show his growing "rizz" as he read the script. Student assistants from social media marketing, video, and photo disciplines collaborated with full-time members of the social media and creative teams to conceptualize, film, and edit the content, ensuring it resonated with the target audience. The video was a success, generating nearly 55,000 views and 5,000 engagements across Instagram and TikTok, making it one of the highest-viewed and most engaged with videos of the year. It resonated with viewers, reinforcing school pride and strengthening community connections.

From the Judges

We found this video fun and entertaining, liked the way the university put its own spin on a social media trend, and appreciated the student focus. The video was concise, while still doing an excellent job of weaving in highlights from the year. It appeals to the student audience as well as the larger community.