OC professor challenges students to use media for good and donates $100 to the Have Hope Foundation

Professor David Lowry donated $100 to a nonprofit organization through his Media for Good project in the class Media, Faith, and Culture.

November 10, 2020

Oklahoma Christian University prides itself on its support of local communities as well as serving those in need. Recently, these guiding values inspired OC Professor of Communication David Lowry to provide a donation to the Have Hope Foundation as an initiative for a class project.

Lowry teaches the class Media, Faith, and Culture, which includes a project he titled “Media for Good.” Through the project, students are tasked with creating a positive message on social media and then promoting that message using various social media channels. This year, Lowry decided that the team with the most views would be able to choose a nonprofit organization (related in some way to their project) for him to donate $100 to.

Although he has been doing this project for many years, this is the first year Lowry decided to donate to an organization in the community and contribute alongside his students' work.

“This year, I was thinking about the project and thought ‘why not?’” Lowry said. “If the students were going to work as hard as I wanted them to, maybe I should do something supportive as well. I thought it would be a good thing to demonstrate to our students that not only did they do something good in the Media for Good Project, but their hard work benefited others as well in the form of a contribution. Perhaps someday some of these students might fundraise for a worthy cause and remember this little project.”

Not only did each of the groups surpass 100 views each, but the winning team collected over 11,800 views for their project using Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat. 

Lowry went on to discuss the significance of the project and how he is working to make a difference.

“I believe that what I'm teaching in Media, Faith, and Culture is something that makes a difference to my students and society as well,” he said. “I guess I'm one of those crazy teachers who believes that the work I do through students is going to make a difference in this world.”

Naomi Reagan, one of the members of the winning team, discussed the reason they chose the nonprofit Have Hope.

“We chose the Have Hope Foundation because their mission represented the values of our campaign,” Reagan said. “They are making an impact for our community by utilizing social media to raise awareness and funds for underprivileged youth in Oklahoma City.”

After the due date, the team was able to get in contact with the nonprofit’s founder, Hope Judd, and award her with the check in class on Oct. 22. Judd, an OC alumna who minored in Communication, was appreciative. The funds will help her reach more young children with after-school enrichment activities.