Department of Strategic Communication & Media at SRU

09/02/2026

2026 Hall of Fame Inductee📣

Rachel Brecht (née Aul) is chief people officer for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

She joined the Penguins in 2025 after a 14-year run as a principal consultant supporting business transformation, change management, communication and talent strategy for high-growth and Fortune 500 companies. Earlier in her career, she served as strategic communication manager for American Eagle Outfitters, leading field communication strategy and ex*****on for more than 1,000 stores across North America.

Brecht's leadership has earned wide recognition. She delivered the keynote address for the American Heart Association's Go Red for Women luncheon in 2019 and returned to SRU in 2020 as part of its Alumni Speaker Series. In 2023, she co-authored the book "Letters to My Corporate Sisters" and was recognized in connection with a National Association of Corporate Directors Private Company Board of the Year award. In 2024, she was named a Pittsburgh Business Times Woman of Influence, and from 2024 to 2026 she served as a mentor for the publication's Mentoring Monday program.

Brecht's community involvement spans several sectors. She serves as board secretary for the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank and sits on the executive committee for the National Association of Corporate Directors' Future of Board Leadership Symposium. She is also involved with Vibrant Pittsburgh, United Way's Women United, the Brave Women Project, the Allegheny Conference on Community Development's workforce development committee, and serves on the board and committees of St. Clair Hospital. Earlier in her career, she belonged to the Public Relations Society of America, the Pittsburgh Human Resources Association and the Association for Talent Development.

A 1997 graduate of SRU, Brecht earned a Bachelor of Science in communication with a concentration in corporate communication and multimedia, and a minor in marketing. While at SRU, she served as managing editor of The Rocket, was a member of Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority and the Student Government Association, and belonged to the Public Relations Student Society of America.

08/26/2026

A Murder in Mercer, produced by Dr. Brittany Fleming and SRU alumni, James Cressman, is having a special open screening on campus in the Robert M. Smith Student Center on Thursday, September 17th at 6:00 PM.

Tickets are available at https://www.amurderinmercer.com

Join us for a special open screening of the true crime documentary A Murder in Mercer at the Robert M. Smith Student Center Ballroom on Thursday, September 17 at 6:00 PM.

“More than five decades after a brutal 1968 abduction and murder in western Pennsylvania, the people who survived it, and the families who lived with its aftermath, finally tell the story in their own words.”
Home | A Murder In Mercer. (n.d.). A Murder in Mercer. https://www.amurderinmercer.com/

This film was produced by an SRU almuni, James Cressman, and SRU associate professor, Brittany L. Fleming, Ph.D.

To find tickets to this screening, go to https://sruedu.vbotickets.com/event/a_murder_in_mercer_documentary_screening/206572 or https://www.amurderinmercer.com

08/26/2026

We're excited to begin highlighting this year's SRU Communication & Media Hall of Fame honorees!

To kick us off, our "2026 Lifetime Achievement Award" recipient is Susan Canfora!

Susan Canfora is an award-winning journalist with 46 years of experience in print, television and radio broadcasting.

Canfora began her career at New Castle News, where she worked as a feature writer for five years before relocating to Ocean City, Maryland. Canfora's career includes a run of entrepreneurial ventures alongside her reporting work. From 2008 to 2019, she owned and operated Canfora Enterprises, providing freelance writing, radio reporting and editing services, including contributions to WGMD-FM Radio in Delaware. During part of that span, from 2014 to 2019, she also started the award-winning Salisbury Independent newspaper with her late colleague Greg Bassett, continuing to freelance for the publication after joining Coastal Point newspaper in Ocean View, Delaware, a paper named News Organization of the Year for three consecutive years by the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association. She also writes for the Ocean Pines Progress and, alongside a longtime colleague, recently took over a community newspaper in Ocean Pines, Maryland.

Canfora also co-hosted the weekly public radio show Delmarva Today, reporting and broadcasting news. She has earned numerous hoors, including several Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association awards, the Light of Literacy Award from the Wicomico Public Library in Salisbury, Maryland, and an Excellence Award from Independent NewsMedia Inc. USA.

Beyond her reporting career, Canfora has taught journalism, feature writing, public speaking, short story writing, flash fiction writing, and journal and memoir writing at Salisbury University and Wor-Wic Community College for many years and continues to teach writing courses today. She is a member of the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association.

Canfora earned a bachelor's degree in English from SRU in 1980 and later earned a master's degree in post-secondary education from Salisbury University in 2002. While at SRU, she wrote for The Rocket newspaper and wrote news for the campus radio station.

08/20/2026

It’s great to see the collaboration that happens between SRU faculty and students continue beyond the classroom!

SRU Associate Professor Dr. Brittany Fleming and former student James Cressman teamed up to produce "A Murder in Mercer," a true-crime documentary and historical account centered on a brutal 1968 kidnapping and murder in Mercer County, Pennsylvania.

Nearly 175 people came out to support the Indiana County premiere, which was followed by a powerful discussion about ethics in true-crime storytelling.

Next up, "A Murder in Mercer" is coming to Worthington, PA this Saturday and Slippery Rock University on September 17! This is a great opportunity to support the work of our SRU community while engaging in an important conversation about responsible storytelling and the real people behind true-crime stories.

Proceeds from the screenings directly benefit the Dragan family.

🎟️ Learn more and purchase tickets: www.AMurderInMercer.com

Congratulations to Dr. Fleming and James on this meaningful collaboration and accomplishment!

08/04/2026

If you are planning to be at for homecoming weekend, please join us for our annual alumni mixer and SRU Comm & Media Hall of Fame awards ceremony! Tickets will be available for purchase soon.

06/03/2026

It’s a beautiful, summer day around the Haverlack College of Business!

05/09/2026

Congratulations to our graduating seniors!! 💚 🦁 🎓

05/01/2026

Slippery Rock University communication students are .

Last night, 39 seniors presented their digital portfolios to a panel of industry professionals as part of the department's long-standing senior portfolio presentation tradition. This milestone showcases our students' talent and growth as they prepare to enter the workforce. They continue to reflect the best of the Haverlack College of Business.

We are so proud of what our students have accomplished, and they're just getting started.

Thank you to our judges, many of them SRU alumni, for coming back to campus and investing in the next generation of communication professionals. You make a difference!

03/12/2026

Your favorite communication professors were once kids, too.

Take a trip back in time to meet some of the faculty who make the Department of Communication, Media and Sport Management a special place.

03/12/2026

Final call for nominations for the 2026 SRU Comm & Media Hall of Fame!

Read more about the awards categories and submit your nominations at https://www.rockalumni.com/mediahof-nominate.html