Pizza, wings and prizes were all available at Communication Appreciation Day.

The University of North Dakota is beginning to revamp their Communication department which has resulted in a new campaign to get more students to enroll in the program.

This event was just the beginning of efforts being made to help more students understand not only the communication department, but the opportunities that a communication degree can offer students.

Communication Appreciation Day was an opportunity for students with any major to learn more about what can be done with a communication degree and to help students meet and get in touch with students that are already enrolled in the program. This event offered students a chance to chat with communication advisors, talk to people that are working with communication degrees, and mingle with students that are communications majors.

This event also offered students free food and a chance to win tickets to Spring Fever which is featuring Two Friends.

The Communication Department offers an Advertising and Public Relations campaign class, also known as COMM 430, who were the ones that planned, prepped and executed this event. It was a team effort by the students who are enrolled in the course.

Two students that are currently taking the class and running this campaign are Alexandra Skime, a senior in the communication department, and Emily Windjue who is a sophomore.

They are both leaders of the media strategy team for the course. They were in charge of getting the numbers and asking around to see what students preferred for advertisements and what would work best for this event.

Skime’s journey with the communication department is something many can relate to. Communication is often said to be the default or backup major for many students. Because of this, students that end up switching their major multiple times tend to fall back on the communication department without having knowledge of what they can do with their degree.

“At first I was almost like this is my default,” Skime said. “After actually getting into the program I was like wow this is actually what I want to do and I didn’t realize all of the opportunities comm had.”

Although Windjue had little prior knowledge before entering the program, she is now happy with her decision with the communication department.

“Comm was kind of new to me but I really love it,” Windjue said. “I love everything about communications. I think it is such a valuable skill and I think it is a very overlooked department. And there are so many amazing opportunities.”

One of the selling points of the major for Windjue was the real world experience that the communication department gives you.

“You are able to get real-world experience, especially with this class, we got real-world field experience that is incomparable to any other class I’ve taken,” Windjue said.

Overall the event was put into place to help spread awareness to students, whether declared or undeclared, about the opportunities a person can have with a communication degree.

“We really want people to see that Communication doesn’t have to be your default major,” Windjue said. “It can be your starting point and work from there.”

“You can do so many things with a comm degree,” Skime said.

Communication Appreciation day had a large turnout and offered students an opportunity to get to know professors, students, and advisors that work within the communication department.