How Rice Public Affairs Won 4 PRSA Excalibur Awards

Today's most effective public relations strategies blur the lines between media outreach, owned content, and experiential marketing.

At the 41st PRSA Houston Excalibur Awards on June 25, 2026, Rice University's Office of Public Affairs demonstrated exactly that, earning four top honors including Communications Team of the Year. The wins validate a disciplined, integrated approach: a thousand news stories, nearly one hundred thousand media mentions, and a newsletter that grew active users thirty-one percent.

For communication professionals and students, the results offer more than inspiration. They illustrate how aligning institutional goals with tactical execution can yield measurable prestige. Universities that treat public affairs as a strategic partner, not just a service desk, are building reputational moats in an increasingly crowded higher education market.

What Are the PRSA Houston Excalibur Awards?

The PRSA Houston Excalibur Awards represent the pinnacle of public relations achievement in the greater Houston area, honoring campaigns and professionals that demonstrate strategic excellence and measurable impact. Presented annually by the Houston chapter of the Public Relations Society of America, the awards have recognized outstanding work for over four decades, with the 41st ceremony held in 2026.

A Legacy of Excellence

Since its inception in 1985, the Excalibur Awards program has served as the region's premier benchmark for PR innovation and effectiveness. The competition draws entries from corporations, nonprofits, agencies, and government entities, all vying for recognition across a broad spectrum of categories. Winning an Excalibur signals not only creative prowess but also a rigorous commitment to research, planning, execution, and evaluation , the core tenets of modern public relations.

Award Categories and Judging Criteria

The awards encompass multiple categories, typically including media relations, integrated campaigns, special events, digital and social media, publications, and team recognition. One of the most coveted honors is Communications Team of the Year, which assesses a group's overall contribution to organizational goals through proactive storytelling, crisis management, and marketing communications strategy across multiple platforms. Each entry is judged by a panel of accredited PR professionals from outside the Houston market, ensuring an impartial review. Submissions are evaluated against standard PR frameworks: clearly defined objectives, sound research, creative strategy, tactical execution, and measurable outcomes such as media impressions, engagement growth, or behavioral change. Judges look for entries that move beyond vanity metrics to show true business or community impact.

The Ceremony and Its Significance

The annual Excalibur Awards gala, most recently held at the Houston Botanic Garden, is a highlight of the local communications calendar. Beyond the trophies, the event offers networking with senior practitioners and insights into best practices that drive the industry forward. For communication students and practitioners in Texas, exploring bachelor's communication degrees in Texas can provide the foundational skills that award-winning teams rely on. For many organizations, the recognition fuels recruitment, client pitches, and internal morale, cementing the awards' role as both an accolade and a strategic asset.

Rice's Four Winning Campaigns at a Glance

This table offers a scannable overview of Rice Public Affairs' recognized work at the 2026 PRSA Houston Excalibur Awards. Use it as a quick reference to the scope of recognition and headline metrics before diving into the strategies behind each win.

Communications Team of the Year: Inside Rice News and Media Relations

The Communications Team of the Year award at the PRSA Houston Excalibur Awards is a marquee honor that celebrates a group's sustained, integrated approach to public relations, not just a single standout campaign. In 2026, Rice University's News and Media Relations team claimed that distinction, a testament to how a small but nimble shop can drive outsized reputation gains for a major research university.¹

The Team Behind the Title

The award-winning unit sits within the Office of Public Affairs, led by Vice President Melinda Spaulding Chevalier. News and Media Relations itself is directed by Executive Director Chris Stipes, with Assistant Vice President Jeff Falk helping guide strategy. Together, they lead 13 additional staff members who cover everything from breaking research news to crisis communication. Spaulding Chevalier was quick to credit the entire group, saying, "These awards reflect the talent, dedication, and cross-campus partnership of our team and collaborators across Rice."

Metrics That Mattered

During the entry period, the team produced more than 1,000 news stories, a staggering volume for a university communications office.¹ That output helped secure nearly 100,000 media mentions, a number that signals broad, consistent coverage well beyond the Houston market. Even more telling, top-tier media placements jumped by 33 percent, showing that the team's pitching and relationship-building were landing Rice in the outlets that matter most to stakeholders, from national newspapers to industry trade publications.

What the Award Signals

Unlike campaign-specific awards that judge a single tactic or activation, the Communications Team of the Year evaluation in the PRSA Houston Excalibur framework looks at the full picture. Judges consider how well the team aligns its work with institutional priorities, uses resources effectively, collaborates across departments, and produces measurable outcomes over time. Rice's entry demonstrated a coordinated engine that blends public relations, marketing, and strategic communication into one reputation-building machine. The recognition signals that the team isn't just executing tasks, it's thinking strategically, measuring impact, and iterating for continuous improvement.

For communication students and professionals watching this case study, the takeaway is clear: winning Team of the Year requires more than a flashy campaign. It demands a consistent drumbeat of earned, owned, and shared media that collectively shapes how an institution is perceived. Understanding whether a public relations career is worth pursuing starts with recognizing exactly this kind of disciplined, measurable work.

Case Study: The Gateway Project News Release and Press Conference

When a university announces a project that will reshape its physical identity, the communication stakes are enormous. For Rice University, the Gateway Project represented more than a construction plan; it was a statement about the institution's future. The $120 million initiative, set for completion by 2028, transforms Rice's west side by renovating the historic 75-year-old Rice Stadium and extending Amherst Avenue into a vibrant pedestrian corridor with tree-lined walkways, lighting, and greenspaces.¹ The project includes 14 new stadium suites, a 360-degree concourse, a canopy, two new restroom and concession buildings, and an open-air covered practice facility.² It also demolishes the Greenbriar Annex to make way for mixed-use development: retail, housing, restaurants, and a grocery store, all part of Rice's 30-year Campus Land Use Plan. With Rice Stadium having hosted Super Bowl VIII and President Kennedy's 1962 moon speech, the site carries deep symbolic weight.² Announcing such a milestone required a communication strategy as ambitious as the project itself.

The News Release: Building a National Narrative

The news release that earned a Gold Excalibur was not a routine institutional announcement. It was a carefully targeted narrative designed to capture the imagination of multiple audiences: alumni, Houston residents, prospective students, and national higher education and sports media. The Rice News and Media Relations team, led by executive director Chris Stipes, identified clear objectives: generate widespread awareness, frame the project as a transformative campus investment, and reinforce Rice's reputation as a forward-thinking institution. They distributed the release through a blend of newswire services and direct media outreach, pitching it as a story about historic preservation meeting modern innovation. The result was 267 media placements, spanning local outlets, national publications, and sports networks.¹ A strategic communication case study like this shows how a well-angled story, grounded in facts and human impact, can break through the noise.

The Press Conference: Bringing the Story to Life

To complement the written narrative, Rice organized a press conference that added sensory depth and immediate access. Held as an unveiling event, it drew more than 200 attendees, including university leaders, athletic director Tommy McClelland, local officials, and reporters.³ The team orchestrated logistics with precision: staging the event at the stadium to provide visuals of the current structure alongside renderings of the future design, offering interview opportunities with key stakeholders, and timing the announcement to maximize coverage cycles. The press conference generated stories from at least 12 top-tier outlets, earning a Bronze Excalibur. In an era of digital-first communication, the event proved that physical gatherings still deliver unmatched credibility and emotional resonance when they offer a compelling story, exclusive access, and strong visuals.

Strategic Integration: Why the Pairing Worked

The Gateway Project campaign was not two separate efforts but a single, synchronized strategy. The news release provided the fact base and key messages that media could cite; the press conference added authenticity and allowed journalists to ask questions, tour the site, and capture original footage. Together, they created a media flywheel: the release seeded the story, the press conference amplified it, and the subsequent coverage fed back into Rice's owned channels, including its newsletter, which reported a 33% increase in views and 31% growth in active users that year. Communications pros earn a seat at the executive table precisely by delivering this kind of measurable, integrated impact. For communicators, the lesson is clear: a strategically timed release about an institutionally significant topic can generate outsized coverage, and press conferences still drive top-tier attention when they provide access, visuals, and a story worth showing up for. Rice's recognition at the PRSA Houston Excalibur Awards validates that disciplined, audience-centric PR execution turns big ideas into big wins.

Owned Media Growth: Rice News Newsletter Strategy

How does a university newsletter with 18,000 subscribers become a strategic asset in a PR awards campaign?

Rice News isn't just a weekly email digest; it's the university's primary owned-media platform for sharing institutional stories directly with faculty, staff, alumni, and the broader Houston community. During the period examined for the Excalibur Awards, the newsletter reached 18,000-plus subscribers, and its engagement metrics surged: views climbed by 33%, and active users grew by 31% in 2025. These numbers reflect more than vanity metrics; they signal a deepening trust and consistent value for readers.

Growth Metrics That Tell a Story

The team behind Rice News meticulously tracks engagement to demonstrate its impact. The 33% increase in views and 31% bump in active users weren't accidental; they resulted from a disciplined editorial strategy that curated content tightly aligned with institutional priorities. Each edition serves as a curated window into Rice's achievements, from faculty research breakthroughs to student success stories. By measuring and sharing these metrics, the Office of Public Affairs showed how owned media contributes to the university's reputation in concrete, comparable terms, a critical point when making the case for Communications Team of the Year. Understanding why storytelling matters in this context helps explain why each newsletter edition was engineered to resonate, not merely inform.

Why Owned Media Is a Strategic Multiplier

In an era of fragmented audiences and shifting media trust trends 2026, a university newsletter offers a controlled channel immune to algorithmic shifts or media gatekeeping. Owned media lets communicators set the narrative, deliver messages on a predictable cadence, and build a loyal readership. For Rice, the newsletter also functions as a distribution engine for the very stories that earned top-tier media placements. When The Gateway Project announcement landed 267 media mentions, Rice News ensured the campus community understood the significance immediately, reinforcing key messages and driving further engagement. This multiplier effect turns a single win into sustained visibility.

Integrating the Newsletter into the Excalibur Case

The Excalibur judges didn't view Rice News in isolation. Its audience growth and engagement were part of a holistic submission that connected earned media victories with owned media momentum. The team demonstrated how a 33% rise in top-tier placements funneled curious readers to the newsletter, while the newsletter's expanding base primed the community to share and amplify university news. For communication professionals considering this model, PR career advice for new professionals consistently points to owned media ownership as a core competency. This integrated approach, where every press release, press conference, and email edition works in concert, is exactly what the Communications Team of the Year award celebrates. It proves that strategic communication isn't just about big headlines; it's about building a resilient, responsive ecosystem that strengthens the university's voice every day.

Lessons for Communication Professionals and Students

Strategic public affairs wins are not accidental. The 2026 PRSA Houston Excalibur Awards showcase how Rice University transformed deliberate planning into measurable recognition. The following lessons distill actionable principles for communication professionals and students aiming to elevate their own practice.

Build a Foundation of Collaboration and Metrics

• Cross-campus partnerships: Rice's vice president for public affairs emphasized that the awards reflect partnerships across the university. Effective PR requires buy-in from faculty, administrators, and other departments, not just the communications office. This integration ensures campaigns align with institutional goals and resonate authentically.
• Measurement discipline: Every winning entry was backed by quantifiable outcomes. The Gateway Project release tracked 267 media placements, top-tier media placements grew by 33%, and the newsletter reported 18,000-plus subscribers. Build marketing communication ROI measurement into each campaign from the start, defining clear metrics that tie directly to strategic objectives.

Integrate Earned and Owned Tactics for Compounding Impact

• Multi-channel synergy: The Gateway Project combined a news release, a press conference, and owned channels for compounding coverage. The release won a Gold Excalibur, while the event earned a Bronze, together amplifying reach far beyond what a single tactic could achieve.
• Owned media is award-worthy: Judges valued audience development alongside earned media. The Rice News newsletter's subscriber growth, view increases, and active user gains were integral to the Communications Team of the Year case. Investing in owned platforms strengthens not only day-to-day engagement but also award submissions. Business communication skills like audience analysis and editorial discipline are central to sustaining this kind of owned-media success.

Leverage Regional Awards as Stepping Stones

• Portfolio building: Regional awards like the Excaliburs provide concrete evidence of success. They bolster team morale, validate strategy, and create a track record that supports national award entries. Rice's wins demonstrate how local recognition can elevate a team's internal and external credibility. For students considering graduate study, understanding whether a master's in communication is worth it becomes clearer when you can point to award-documented outcomes as evidence of program value.

Frequently Asked Questions About the PRSA Houston Excalibur Awards

Understanding the PRSA Houston Excalibur Awards helps communication professionals benchmark their own work and learn from recognized campaigns. Below, we answer key questions about the awards and Rice University's winning strategies.

What are the PRSA Houston Excalibur Awards?

The PRSA Houston Excalibur Awards are an annual competition recognizing outstanding public relations campaigns and communications professionals in the Houston area. The 41st ceremony was held on June 25, 2026, at the Houston Botanic Garden. Awards cover categories like news releases, special projects, and team excellence, highlighting strategic and creative work.

How are PRSA Excalibur Award winners selected and judged?

Entries are judged by a panel of public relations professionals who evaluate each submission based on the four-step RPIE process: research, planning, implementation, and evaluation. Judges look for strategic thinking, creativity, effective execution, and measurable outcomes. Winning campaigns must demonstrate clear objectives and impactful results tied to organizational goals. Professionals looking to sharpen these competencies will find that career soft skills like strategic thinking and cross-functional collaboration are equally prized by employers.

What campaigns did Rice Public Affairs win Excalibur Awards for in 2026?

Rice University's Office of Public Affairs won four Excalibur Awards. The Rice News and Media Relations team received Communications Team of the Year. The Gateway Project announcement earned a Gold Excalibur for news releases, and the Gateway Project press conference won a Bronze Excalibur for special projects. The fourth award category was not disclosed in available details.¹

What is the Communications Team of the Year award from PRSA Houston?

The Communications Team of the Year award recognizes a group within an organization for overall excellence in strategic communication. Rice's News and Media Relations team earned this honor by producing over 1,000 news stories, securing nearly 100,000 media mentions, and increasing top-tier media placements by 33% during the entry period.¹

How do the PRSA Excalibur Awards compare to the PRSA Silver Anvil?

The PRSA Excalibur Awards are regional, administered by the Houston chapter, celebrating local PR excellence. In contrast, the Silver Anvil Awards are national, honoring the best campaigns across the United States. Both use rigorous judging criteria, but the Excalibur is specifically for Houston-area practitioners and campaigns. For practitioners in the region, a communication master's program in Texas can provide the graduate-level foundation that makes entries like Rice's stand out.

What PR strategies helped Rice University increase media placements by 33%?

Rice University's integrated strategy combined proactive media relations, high-volume storytelling (1,000+ stories), and targeted news releases like the Gateway Project, which alone generated 267 placements.¹ They also leveraged owned media, growing the Rice News newsletter to 18,000+ subscribers with 33% more views and 31% more active users in 2025. Understanding the communications degree job outlook helps explain why teams that blend owned media and earned media strategies are increasingly valuable to institutions competing for national attention.

Related Articles

Rice's 33% jump in top-tier media placements is just one measurable outcome from a playbook grounded in integrated PR, owned media cultivation, and disciplined newsroom output. Their four Excalibur awards underscore that when a communications team aligns earned media, owned channels like the 18,000-subscriber Rice News, and in-person events, the results compound. For practitioners and students, the lesson is clear: don't keep tactics in silos. Invest in your homegrown audience, measure everything, and use data to refine relentlessly. Whether you're building toward a bachelor's in communication or already leading a team, this framework applies: align tactics with institutional goals, document outcomes, and let the data tell your story. Apply that discipline to your next campaign and the recognition will follow.