Leon Purvis, a 2018 Rowan alumnus, has made a name for himself in the world of multimedia journalism. From internships at “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” and “Good Morning America” to “The Today Show,” Purvis made the ultimate journalism victory lap. However, it all started right here at Rowan University.
Purvis, born and raised in Glassboro, made it all the way through the Glassboro school system before eventually heading to Rowan. In order to get the full scope of communications-based experience, he double majored in Journalism and Radio/TV/Film (RTF).
During his time at Rowan, he participated in the Rowan TV Network, Rowan Radio and The Whit newspaper. He acknowledged the amazing support and experiences he gained at Rowan that helped propel him into his successful careers. Classes like Media Law and On-Camera Field Reporting really opened his eyes to the journalism and broadcasting industries. Professors Quigley, Kelley, Garyantes and Berkey-Gerard were first to come to mind in terms of who made the biggest impacts on his journalistic career.
Another wonderful experience provided by the Rowan Journalism department was the opportunity to take a class and cover the Democratic National Convention in 2016. This experience made him feel like a true reporter. He even referred to this as “the Super Bowl for journalists.” He covered protests, made livestreams and networked all from a South Jersey perspective. He said this experience helped in the transition from college journalist to professional.
As an RTF major at Rowan, Purvis had the opportunity to apply for an internship at “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” based in Los Angeles, California. With his position, he allowed for Rowan RTF majors to apply for the prestigious internship. While working in LA, Purvis said that this experience taught him “all of the puzzle pieces that go into putting on a successful talk show.”
After his internship at the Ellen Show, Purvis moved onto another big-name internship, “Good Morning America,” where he learned how to create a morning TV show at the network level. Along with getting the network TV experience under his belt, he also made some recognizable friends along the way! Once again Purvis followed one amazing internship with another. In fall 2017, he began his work for “The Today Show.”
Upon graduating in spring 2018, he accepted a position in Eureka, California, as a multimedia journalist for Redwood News. For all future Rowan journalists, Purvis wanted to share a little advice: “I applied to over 100 on-air jobs across the country, and I wanted to go anywhere that would give me the chance to gain that on-air experience. All it takes is that one yes. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t get your dream position right away. That one yes just happened to be Eureka, California. You have to work for it. Even when you get the job, there is so much growing and room for improvement.”
Recently, Purvis got to fill at the anchor desk. And in August 2019, he will attend the National Association for Black Journalists convention in Miami.
“It is an honor and a privilege to be a reporter and give a voice to the voiceless,” said Purvis. “You’re a public servant, and they are trusting you to tell their stories. Journalism is about telling the story and making an impact. If you want to be in this industry, you have to work really hard. I was determined, put myself out there and accomplished my goal.”
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Story by:
Chad Wittmann, senior journalism major
Photos courtesy of: Leon Purvis
time to transfer to a four-year institution was approaching. I needed to decide quickly and be absolutely certain I made the right choice. Eventually I came to the aviation industry – settling on the idea that I wanted to become a pilot. This decision lead me to a university out in northern Arizona. 
I just didn’t know of any other options that would fit me.
Rowan I received a student worker position as a digital content contributor for Rowan’s Division of Student Affairs. A position I received from interacting with one of my professors (who I now work with). She inspired me to pursue various aspects of public relations – eventually leading me to my passions in 
colleges I wanted to go to. Did I want a big school or small school? Did I want to live in an urban area? Rural? Suburban? I had no idea. 
Now what? I had already bought a sweatshirt, I told everyone this is where I was going. I felt so embarrassed and just let down. 
Now what? I still knew Rowan was where I wanted to be, despite being denied the first time around. I felt confident in the courses I took at my community college and had a stellar GPA. I told myself that there is no way I could be denied again. 
“I always knew I wanted to do something more on the creative side,” Shaylin reflects. “I’m a visual learner and I like talking to people, so I wanted to do something where I’d be in a fast pace environment and constantly meeting new people.” Becoming a member of Sigma Delta Tau sorority confirmed her love of public relations, because of their philanthropic work and involvement with nonprofits. “Public relations is at the base of a lot of nonprofits, so getting involved with them really narrowed it down for me, that this is what I want to pursue.”
The students — Kailey Bertelson (advertising), Brittany Eng (public relations, advertising), Megan Jean (studio art), Timothy Stanford (advertising), and Hannah Vendetta (public relations, advertising) — spent many long nights and weekends in the Public Relations & Advertising High Street building on campus, developing their campaign for BOXED, an e-commerce store and app that provides customers the convenience of purchasing household items in bulk online, and shipping to their door for an affordable price. The group’s winning campaign ran with the slogan “Two Day Shipping, More Two Day Weekends,” and included the optional addition of a video advertisement, featuring Hannah as a busy mom trying to balance maintaining a household and spending quality time with her kids. The judges loved the creativity and detail of the campaign, awarding the group, nicknamed “The Incredible Bulk,” first place and a cash prize of $2,000 to split!
“My Intro to PR and Advertising Research class prepared me the most for this challenge. A massive portion of the proposal was gathering the information that we needed, both secondary and primary,” Tim says. Brittany agrees that learning the techniques for research ahead of time in class definitely helped advance their campaign. “Our skills in media, design, research and writing are a result of our professors’ dedication towards bringing out the best qualities in their students,” she says. When the results were gathered and interpreted, Megan took the next step of designing their display: “I took everything that I learned from my graphic design professors to help put together the design. Once we had gathered all of our information it came down to getting it laid out to make it visually pleasing to the viewer,” she says.
And while knowledge and experience from classes definitely helped fuel the winning project, working together also helped each member of the group strengthen skills that they had not practiced before. Brittany admits that she came into the competition with little experience in research, but was confident that the competition would enhance her abilities in a real-world scenario — and it did! “Now I have experience creating and analyzing the results of a national scale survey,” she says, which is a major accomplishment for a college student. 
we experienced was guest policies, specifically people staying the night. But we talked through it immediately.” – Alayna 
