Edinboro University, WQLN Team Up To Examine Sport-Related Concussions
Edinboro University and WQLN Public Media are collaborating to host a documentary screening and panel discussion that focuses on the issue of sport-related concussions at 7 p.m. on Oct. 23.
The event, which will be held in Room 107A of Compton Hall on the EU campus, will begin with a screening of the Frontline/PBS documentary “League of Denial: The NFL’s Concussion Crisis.” The film examines the latest research on football brain injuries and what many see as a health crisis that threatens both players and the long-term future of the sport. WQLN President Tom New will introduce the documentary.
“We are excited to provide the opportunity to take a closer look, not only at this provocative piece of investigative journalism, but at the larger issue of traumatic brain injuries that can result from athletic competition,” said Dr. Tony Peyronel, chair of the Department of Communication and Media Studies at Edinboro.
Immediately following the screening, a panel of experts and former players will reflect on the documentary and engage in a general dialogue on concussion in athletics. The panel discussion will be moderated by WICU news anchor Mike Ruzzi, an Edinboro graduate. Panelists include Dr. Mark Hogue, a neuropsychologist and part owner of Northshore Psychological Associates and Northshore Neurosciences in Erie; George Roberts, a certified athletic trainer and retired Edinboro faculty member who currently serves as a member of the Pennsylvania Board of Medicine; and Charles Rush, a standout football player at Erie’s Cathedral Prep and Penn State University who is now a law student at Villanova University. Rush also spent a year as an intern with the labor operations department of the NFL’s management council. Both Hogue and Roberts are two-time Edinboro graduates.
The event, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by Edinboro University’s Department of Communication and Media Studies and the University’s chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA). PRSSA is a pre-professional organization designed to build positive relationships between public relations professionals and students studying public relations.
Created by its parent group, PRSA, in 1968, PRSSA provides member students with a variety of professional development opportunities as well as scholarships, award programs and other regional and national activities. Edinboro University was awarded its PRSSA charter in 2003, recognition that Edinboro is among colleges and universities nationally that “offer substantial programs of public relations,” according to PRSA.
Although there is no charge to attend this event, contributions to the Edinboro University Friends of Communication fund are encouraged.
