Kean University made a huge splash in the nationwide TIDAL Social Wave For A Change competition that swept all social media platforms during March 2016.

The Kean University chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) led the campaign that caused the university to take second place in this huge competition, and win its students a silent disco party. Over 50 colleges across America participated in the social media competition, and Kean University quickly climbed the ranks and remained in the top five schools throughout the duration of the competition.

The competition consisted of college students participating in community service activities, photographing them and putting them on TIDAL’s social media pages or on students’ personal pages with #TidalXChange.

Kean University gained the high status in the competition by posting over 200 volunteer work photos on Instagram alone, as well as many other photos and hashtags on various other social media platforms.

The students of Kean University performed charitable acts such as volunteering at foodbanks, raising awareness for women’s heart disease, raising over $3,000 for the Special Olympics by participating in the 2016 Polar Bear Plunge in Seaside Heights and creating Valentine’s Day cards for patients at the Children’s Specialized Hospital in Roselle Park.

The dedicated and caring students of Kean University not only provided a fun and exciting prize to the university, but by participating, they brightened the day of those less fortunate. Throwing a picture up on Instagram was just the extra step.

“Kean students have had a long standing commitment to giving back to their community,” said Director for the Center for Leadership and Service (CLS), Scott K. Snowden. “This national recognition from TIDAL is a great reward to our students for all of their efforts to improve the lives of the people in the community around them.”

Kean University has a bountiful history of giving back to the community. The university has been on the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll by the U.S. Corporation for National and Community Service in Washington D.C. every year since 2009. Furthermore, the Kean University community has performed over 52,600 hours of community service for the 2015-2016 school year with the involvement of over 8,500 students.

"I saw how much community service Kean students do and thought we should get some recognition for it,” said Michael Canova, public relations major and a member of Kean’s PRSSA chapter who took the lead on the TIDAL Social Wave for Change campaign.  “I give credit to the PRSSA for helping to spread the details of the contest around the school. I also give a lot of credit to the [CLS] for organizing such a great MLK Week of Service and Kean University volunteers, as the entire campus came together to become a finalist in the contest."

The CLS is currently in the process of working out the details associated with the silent disco party that will take place at Kean University. More details on that matter will be released in time.

The PRSSA has made a huge impact on both the Kean University community and those less fortunate who benefitted from the charitable acts performed by the Kean University students. Perhaps this achievement concerning the TIDAL Social Wave for Change competition will be an incentive for not only the PRSSA, but for other groups to participate in volunteer and community work for a good cause.