Alumni Newsletter: Fall 2025

Alumni Tailgate!

Join us for our second Communication Studies alumni gathering during ISU Homecoming this fall! We are hosting a tailgate in the “open tent” area the Saturday of the Cyclones’ Homecoming football game, October 25th. Our tent is in Harvester Plaza, the area between C.Y. Stephens & Hilton Coliseum, marked with a sign saying Communication Studies. We plan to have the tent open, starting three hours before kickoff through kickoff. 

We are excited to invite you to gather with us to reminisce and reconnect. We will provide snacks and alcohol-free beverages. Please sign up at this link to let us know you’re coming and to help us make sure we have enough food and drinks. We look forward to seeing you at the alumni tailgate!  

Trifecta of Award Winners in Communication Studies 

Communication Studies is a program full of award winners! This fall, three people connected to our Communication Studies program were recognized with noteworthy awards at the LAS Fall Convocation and Awards Ceremony. At this event, the college presented awards to LAS faculty and staff who have made exceptional contributions, including our three winners. Many of you remember Madison Akers as your advisor. Madison was honored for her caring and guiding advising with the Early Achievement in Academic Advising Award. You probably also remember these two fabulous faculty members, who not only taught you, but also supported and shaped you: Tina Coffelt, who was awarded the Institutional Service Award; and Katherine Rafferty, who was honored with the Impact on Student Success Award. 

Please join us in sharing your congratulations with our winners for their excellence in serving our students and our university. Feel free to send your personal words of congratulations and appreciation to Madison, Tina and Katherine! We always love hearing from our former students! Read more about the event here. 

Student & Alumni Speed Networking Event 

On September 16th, eight alumni met together with about twenty current students so that they could pass on insights from their experiences and careers. This inaugural speed networking event provided Communication Studies majors with an opportunity to build their professional network, receive job searching tips, and learn how their degree in communication can launch them into a future profession. Students in small groups rotated among the alumni, spending about ten minutes with each. We extend a tremendous “Thank You!” to these terrific alumni for participating and sharing their expertise and wisdom: Dellen Burk-Flores, Shane Cooney, Cooper Doerrfeld, Krista Klocke, Jackson LeRoy, Megan Moore, Kimberley Strope-Boggus and Monique Washington. We also want to thank Dr. Kelly Odenweller for suggesting and arranging this event, which we are confident will occur again in the future. 

Communication Studies Student & Alumni Partnership

In Summer 2025, Communication Studies alumnus Pete Ragias (2005) and current student Ellie Chojnacki participated in an intriguing pilot program, which places a current major of the program into an internship at an organization of an alumnus of the program. In this way, the student has a built-in mentor and role model with firsthand knowledge of both their major and their future career options! Pete encourages fellow alumni: “We all have the responsibility to pave the way and provide opportunities for those who come after us. If Ellie is the standard bearer for students at ISU Communication Studies, my fellow alumni would benefit greatly from providing opportunities to this generation of students! Go Cyclones!”  

It is our fervent hope that there will be many more internship partnerships between current students and former students of The Communication Studies Program! If you and your organization might be willing to provide an internship for a current student in Communication Studies, contact our program director, Dr. Stacy Tye-Williams (styewill@iastate.edu) or our alumni director, Dr. Todd Jenks (drjenks@iastate.edu) to talk about the next steps. Click here to read our interview with Pete and Ellie, who served together at PopJoy this summer. You’ll learn how they feel about their experience, plus how you can become a partner who provides an internship for a current student. 

You’re Invited to An Empowering Presentation

Alumni Updates 

MaryAnn Gibney

After earning my master’s degree in Student Affairs, I started my career in higher education as a career counselor for DePaul University’s College of Business — a role that first brought me to Chicago. I leaned heavily on the communication skills I developed at Iowa State: building rapport, listening actively, and helping students translate their stories into compelling professional narratives.

That foundation not only shaped my early work in higher education, but also gave me the confidence to pivot into the tech industry. I now work at LinkedIn, where I build global training programs for recruiters and support our teams as they pilot new features before they launch worldwide. Every day, I rely on my communication background — whether I’m designing curriculum, facilitating sessions, or collecting feedback from global teams — and I’m grateful for how those skills have carried across each chapter of my career.

Bridget Konradi 

Bridget serves as Senior Event Manager for the Marriott at the University of Dayton. Bridget was recently nominated for a very special award, the Greater Dayton HSMAI Sales Leader of the Year, presented by the Ohio Hotel & Lodging Association, due to Bridget’s excellent work. For instance, Bridget was in charge of hosting three teams during the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship First Four in Dayton, coordinating accommodations and services for these three teams. Bridget has been noted for “clear communication, ability to work across departments, and [effective] leadership.” We applaud Bridget for putting into practice the communication skills acquired in this program in a manner that is impacting others so positively. 

Taylor Ney 

Hello to all alumni reading! After graduating from Iowa State University in the spring of 2024, I remained in Ames for seven months and worked for Cornerstone Church. While I was in college, I was a member of Cornerstone and attended Salt Company on Thursday nights. I also went on a short-term trip to Nairobi, Kenya. Following my time at Cornerstone, I attended a seven-week training and was sent overseas shortly after. Now, I have lived in Nairobi for a little over three months! My first three months have been spent learning Swahili to understand the people and culture. Currently, I am transitioning into doing university ministry underneath healthy local Kenyan churches in Nairobi. 

My communication classes have greatly impacted the ways I am able to communicate with others daily! More specifically, I took Intercultural Communication Studies with Dr. Todd Jenks, which almost directly applies to everything I do living overseas. I am consistently communicating cross-culturally, which takes a lot of intentionality to seek mutual rapport. I am very thankful for my time at Iowa State studying Communication Studies, and all that I have learned and been able to apply through it! Go Cyclones! 

Jamie Smith 

I graduated from Iowa State in 2024 with majors in Communication Studies and Spanish. During the past year, I lived in Spain and worked as an English Language Assistant at a public high school through the North American Language and Culture Assistants Program (NALCAP). I was placed in a beautiful village near the Mediterranean Sea in the province of Alicante! There, I helped teach English as well as bilingual classes such as Biology and Math. It was an amazing experience and made me realize my interest in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) alongside my want to further explore the field of Communication Studies. I decided to search for a graduate program that suited my interests and ultimately chose the MA in Intercultural Communication and Education at the University of Exeter in the UK. I am so excited to be returning this fall as a graduate student and am looking forward to a great year! 

Alumni: Please Share Your Updates 

We invite you to share an update with your fellow alumni from Communication Studies! Our alumni have let us know that they love reading updates from other alumni. We’d especially like to hear your updates in two areas: your current career news and your memories of our academic program. Updates may be edited for length. 

Career News: 

Do you have a new job? Have you been given a promotion? Have you been honored with an award? What skills or experiences acquired in your courses contribute to your career today? Please share these updates with us to share with your fellow alumni (let us know your new job title, employer and location). 

Memories of Communication Studies: 

Do you have a special memory of your time in our program? It could be a class activity, a project you worked on or a presentation you made, or something you learned in a class that has stuck with you and helped you. Please share your memories of Communication Studies and its impact with us to share with your fellow alumni. 

Where to send your update: 

Please send your update to our alumni coordinator, Dr. Todd Jenks, drjenks@iastate.edu, and we’ll work to have your update included in a future edition of this newsletter. Updates may be edited for length.  

Pay It Forward: Make a Gift to Help Our Students 

Employers always place communication skills at the top of the list in what they seek in job applicants. In the Communication Studies Program, we teach students those highly-sought skills; in addition, we provide them with the needed knowledge on communication concepts and important theories of everyday communication, so that our graduates can think critically and work positively & effectively with coworkers. Help us continue to provide our students with excellent education in human communication! Gifts of all sizes are welcome, and make an important difference. To give to the Communication Studies Excellence Fund, click here.