The Missouri State University Advertising Team will compete with 25 universities to develop a campaign addressing targeted violence and domestic terrorism for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Office of Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention.
About the competition
Targeted violence refers to any incident of violence that implicates homeland security and/or DHS activities, and in which a known or knowable attacker selects a particular target prior to the violent attack.
Ad Team’s goal is to create a tool or initiative that addresses targeted violence and terrorism through the mitigation of risk factors and the amplification of protective factors.
The competition is facilitated by EdVentures Partners. Tony Sgro, Chief Executive Officer of EdVenture Partners, explains the importance of student-led initiative programs.
“I can’t think of a better time in recent U.S. history to challenge America’s university students to help abolish targeted violence, hate and terrorism in our country than through the development of Invent2Prevent campaigns this current semester,” said Sgro. “It is especially timely that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is bringing back an enriched version of its former P2P program to address targeted violence and terrorism throughout the country.”
The members of the 2021 Ad Team include the following students:
- Natalie Calvert – Branson, MO
- Sydney Dungan – Fulton, MO
- Jordan Galkowski – St. Charles, MO
- Lauren Kerr – Wichita, KS
- Chase Kilby – Kirkwood, MO
- Jared McBride – St. Louis, MO
- Sarah Scharpenburg – Omaha, NE
- Sarah Soderstrom – St. Charles, MO
A history of success
Ad Team is familiar with success.
“The Missouri State Advertising Team has a great heritage at the university with an unparalleled record of wins,” president Clif Smart said. “More importantly, it provides real life opportunities for students to work together on a project, so they are ready to do the same when they enter the workforce. They always represent the university well.”
In spring 2020, Ad Team placed first among eight other teams in EdVenture Partners’ Peer to Peer Protective Project for The McCain Institute.
“Winning this program last year motivates me to lead the team this year to another victory,” said Jordan Galkowski, member of the 2020 winning team and this year’s Ad Team president. “I’m excited to see the competition this year, given that there are 24 other schools we are competing with. I’m confident that Ad Team is going to bring MSU another first place award this year.”
About Ad Team
Ad Team is an upper-level experiential learning course for students to obtain hands-on, practical experience in the marketing world. Ad team has been at Missouri State University for over 20 years and has received 12 championship titles.