Alumni receive national public relations award

Two Roanoke College alumni received a prestigious award in June for their work as part of a team that responded to a fatal shooting garnering national attention in the Roanoke Valley last summer.

Chris Turnbull '00 and Hannah Cline '15 are two of more than a dozen marketing professionals, clinicians and physicians at Roanoke's Carilion Clinic who received the Silver Anvil Award, the public relations industry's top honor given by the Public Relations Society of America.

The team received the award in the non-profit crisis communications category for its quick, effective response to the on-air shooting of two WDBJ7 journalists - Alison Parker and Adam Ward - by a former co-worker at Smith Mountain Lake on Aug. 26.

Carilion Clinic is a Roanoke-based health care organization.

In particular, Turnbull, who is Carilion's senior consultant for public relations and corporate communications, led the team's efforts to communicate with media and the community immediately after the shooting and for days later.

Cline, who is public relations specialist at Carilion, worked with media alongside Turnbull, including helping the family of Vicki Gardner, who survived the shooting, release information about her condition publicly. Gardner was treated at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital.

Carilion psychiatrists appeared in television interviews following the shooting to discuss workplace violence and related topics. Other Carilion health care experts recorded YouTube informational videos to share ways that families can discuss tragedy with their children.

"What was really admirable was Chris and our team's ability to assess the needs in such a short amount of time," said Cline, who at the time had only been a Carilion employee for three months.

Though Turnbull and Cline said they are honored that their team received this prestigious honor, they said it was not easy to accept. Both worked with Ward and Parker regularly.

"What was so challenging about this was Alison and Adam were friends of ours," Turnbull said. "You hope not to have to deal with a situation like this."

They are using their response to the shooting to help other communications professionals who may encounter similar tragic situations.

In April, Turnbull and Cline discussed tips and lessons learned at the Public Relations Society of America's Health Academy Conference in Washington, D.C. Turnbull also has spoken to several other groups this year about Carilion's response to the shooting.  

"I hope that the experience that we had helps them," said Turnbull, who added that sharing with other professionals has been an important part of his own healing process as well.