By Kendall Ledlow, News Editor 

For the sixth year in a row, the Communications Department hosted its COMS Senior Showcase, a celebratory event planned by the department’s graduating class. For 2026, it was held on March 12 in the Student Activity Center.  

“Senior Showcase”? What Can you do with Coms? One last hoorah,” read the flyer. “Come see what the seniors will be up to after college.” The event was dedicated to letting the senior communication studies class showcase the portfolios they’ve assembled during their time at Montevallo.  

Planning the showcase was an assignment for COMS 499, the communications senior seminar class taught by Professor Tiffany Wang. With only 10 students in the class, the seniors decided tosplit into two committees to bring the event to life: event planning and outreach. 

The event planning committee was made up of Joy Cook, Kenzie Cook, Payton Glover, Kain Hilyer, Jenny Wang and Jordan Ridlehoover. 

“What made it unique was that we focused not only on showcasing ourselves,” said committee head Joy Cook, “but also on highlighting the different and unique aspects of what the COMS department means to us individually through storytelling.” 

Usually, the showcase is held during the fall semester. This year it fell in the springtime, so students decided the theme would be “Spring into Action” and decorated the Student Activity Center with pastel colors and flowers. In addition to the expo, there was food, drinks and recreational activities like cornhole and bracelet making. 

“We took our theme and really brought things to life,” said Kenzie Cook. “From deciding what food would be best to serve, steaming tablecloths and having artifacts and posters on each table to represent who we truly are, we wanted to make sure our planning really paid off and showed why the COMS department is such a special place.” 

Gabe Czeschin, Chad Strickland, Holden Hess, Tucker Cory and Jamaal Stewart were on the outreach committee handling social media promotion and attendance. “Their focus was to incorporate our ‘Spring into Action’ theme,” said Kenzie Cook. 

The committees had to work closely together to make sure their work was consistent with one another. Kenzie Cook explains, “With the color scheme, floral decor and using Montevallo’s purple and gold, they told others outside our university what the campus is really about.” 

Each table featured a poster board highlighting a student’s skills and accomplishments picked from a larger portfolio, as well as artifacts reflecting their experience as a Montevallo student and a communications major. 

 “A lot [of the artifacts were] memorabilia from my deliberative work, or from my game studies and design minor,” said Kain Hilyer. “Two other JOIP interns and I were interviewed for the National Issues Forums Institute, and so I wanted to display the printed article that we were featured in.” 

Montevallo students, communications faculty, other faculty and potential employers attended the event to see the class’s hard work. 

“The biggest challenge was executing the event smoothly without any hiccups, but I’m most proud of how our class stepped up, supported each other, and brought our vision for the showcase to life,” recounted Joy Cook. 

Now that the event has become reality, the communication studies majors are reflecting upon their time in the department and what they’ve learned. 

“While the department has multiple different job ways amongst the students, all of us share a similar theme: emotional intelligence,” Payton Glover said. “Without the concept of understanding and bonding, your connections will diminish. You have to be able to understand multiple pathways of communication, even if they’re against your views and opinions.” 

Hilyer concluded, “I was able to find my home here, not only just in the COMS department itself with each of my professors, but also in the students I work with and the community.”