A blue ribbon for Red Ribbon Week

TU electronic media and film major Raven Jackson '18 won the Red Ribbon Campus PSA contest.

By Kyle Hobstetter on February 13, 2018

Raven Jackson, who works in the Counseling Center and is a student outreach assistant with Towson University’s Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Abuse Prevention Center, won the 2017 Red Ribbon Campus Public Service Announcement (PSA) Contest.
Raven Jackson, who works in the Counseling Center and is a student outreach assistant with Towson University’s Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Abuse Prevention Center, won the 2017 Red Ribbon Campus Public Service Announcement (PSA) Contest.

When she first started at the Towson University Counseling Center, Raven Jackson ’18 was just a normal student worker.

Jackson had a federal work study attached to her financial aid, so she took a job at the Counseling Center to earn extra money. But the more time she spent in the Counseling Center, the more the staff there saw the exceptional talent from the electronic media and film (EMF) major

As a result, the Baltimore City native started working with Towson University’s Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Abuse Prevention Center (ATOD) as a student outreach assistant. Through that experience, Jackson was producing graphic design and video projects for the ATOD.

It was through her work with ATOD that Jackson was announced as the winner of the 2017 Red Ribbon Campus Public Service Announcement (PSA) Contest for an animated anti-drug video that promotes healthy alternatives to drug use. 

When Allison Frey, a health educator at the Counseling Center and co-director of ATOD, first heard about the contest, she thought it was right up Jackson’s alley.

“She’s done so many projects for us already, and I thought this would be fun for her,” Frey said. “[Her video] was fantastic. It was exactly the message we are trying to get across on campus. We’re about saying 'Party Smart'—here are 50 other things you can do than relying on alcohol and drugs.”

When presented with the opportunity, Jackson saw that she only had a month to reach the deadline. She also used the project for her Towson University school work — a for-credit directive study.

The video was drawn, animated, edited and narrated by Jackson. As she started working on the project, she wanted the PSA to follow a narrative that’s different than the usual PSA format of scare tactics and the “Just Say No” philosophy.

“Over the years, I have realized how scare tactics, when it comes to PSAs, never really work,” Jackson said. “At this point, in terms of drug abuse, it’s more important to offer alternatives, or say you can still get help. I feel like those are the most important steps. That was my beginning thoughts and I went from there.”

Check out Raven’s award-winning video

The competition is part of the Drug Enforcement’s Administration’s (DEA) Red Ribbon Week campaign — the oldest and largest drug prevention program that reaches millions of young people.

The DEA asked for a 30- to 60-second video PSA showcasing the underlying message behind Red Ribbon Week — a commitment to a healthy, drug-free lifestyle among college students. 

By winning, Jackson and Frey were invited to the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators Strategies Conference on Jan. 18-20 in Portland, Oregon. Frey and Jackson were part of a panel, and TU’s ATOD Prevention Center was awarded $1,000 to provide for programming.

When Jackson sent in her entry, she wasn’t expecting much of a response. But when she received word that she won, she had one word to describe her reaction.

“I was very dramatic,” Jackson laughed. “I never win anything. Even when I’m on campus and they do raffles, I never win anything. I’ve guess I’ve been particularly lucky this year. I was shocked and Allison was shocked. We got a phone call from the DEA and she said, 'Why is the DEA calling me?’”

Along with her work at the Counseling Center, Jackson just received an internship with Wide Angle Youth Media — a production company in Baltimore. She was attracted to Wide Angle Youth Media for its philanthropic and documentary style projects that highlight the city.

She is also entering her last semester in Towson University’s EMF department. With graduation coming soon, she feels more than prepared for her next step.

“The EMF department is great because a lot of professors are connected to the industry,” Jackson said. “They can direct you to jobs and to opportunities. Everything, including the achievements that I have, is because of everything I learned at Towson University.”