The man who is known for molding Ball State's nationally recognized and newly accredited public relations program will be returning to the university tonight.
Melvin Sharpe, a former Ball State professor and one of the top public relations consultants in the industry, will be speaking at 8 p.m. in the L.A. Pittenger Student Center Ballroom as part of the Vernon C. Schranz Distinguished Lectureship in Public Relations.
Sharpe said that when he began teaching public relations, he felt like the public relations education program needed to be more interdisciplinary, and that the public view of public relations needed to be transformed.
"The public relations field is repeatedly defined as whitewashed, which it can't be," Sharpe said. "If you're going to have any kind of relationship with the public, it requires honesty."
Sharpe worked for 19 years as a public relations professional before beginning his career at Ball State. He retired from the university in 2007 after 26 years.
Among Sharpe's accomplishments, he is attributed with the molding of the university's nationally recognized public relations program, as well as being one of the original advocates for the certification of public relations education programs in 1989, although Ball State didn't receive certification until 1993.
In his keynote address, "Facing Public Relations," Sharpe plans on discussing the future of the public relations field with an emphasis on the importance of international business, as well as a move towards advancement in public relations education, especially at the graduate level.
The Schranz Lectureship began in 1979 from a grant to help honor the first public relations director, Vernon C. Schranz. In its 32 years of existence, it has become the oldest running public relations lecture in the country.
Professor Richard Shoemaker, public relations sequence chair, said having Sharpe return to Ball State as a speaker is an honor.
"I just look at this as one attribute to the great person that Vernon Schranz was, but also to the giant in the field that Mel Sharpe is," he said. "I mean, he's our own."
Public relations major Kellye Donnelly said that having Sharpe deliver this year's Schranz lecture is a great opportunity for the university, especially students who are involved in the public relations program.
"I hope that students learn a lot about the business from somebody who is so experienced," Donnelly said. "And that they learn about the direction that their future careers are headed."
Twitter will be used to replace the typical question and answer session following the lecture. Brad Wilks, a former Schranz lecturer and former graduate student of Sharpe's, will interview Sharpe via tweets that come through to the Schranz Twitter account, @SchranzBSU.
With the state of the industry continually becoming more international, both Shoemaker and Sharpe agreed that they want students to take away the fact that they have chosen a very worthwhile profession, regardless of negative connotations that surround the field.
"We need to look at people who talk about our profession despairingly and make sure that corrections are made," Shoemaker said.
Sharpe is also calling for the definition of public relations to be better understood, and more widely known to the public.
"We have to realize that public relations professionals don't practice public relations; it's organizations that practice," Sharpe said. "Professionals are the counselors."
In an industry that is increasingly having a more international focus, Shoemaker said that students need to know what to expect, and Sharpe is the kind of professional who can deliver that message.
"Given his vision of the profession and his vision of the public relations education, he's the right person to tell us what we need to do," Shoemaker said.
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