Public Relations major Charlie Hathaway is taking advantage of UO and SOJC opportunities.
by Phia Mathison, class of ’27
Meet Charlie Hathaway ’27
Biggest accomplishment so far:
Getting involved with Allen Hall PR and being promoted to an account supervisor is something I’m proud of.
SOJC faculty or staff who made the biggest impression:
Nikki McClaran has helped me turn my personal interests into a tangible thesis plan that I’m super excited to begin researching.
Most useful experience at UO:
Being involved at the Holden Center and participating in experiences outside my major have led me to meet some of the most amazing people and have kept my interests well-rounded.
A core memory from the SOJC:
Any class with Kathryn Kuttis feels more like hanging out with my friends and doing fun, creative projects than a lecture!
Best thing about the SOJC:
The most creative, hardworking, friendly, and ambitious group of students you’ll ever meet!
Community service has always been a priority for Charlie Hathaway, class of ’27. The public relations major has held leadership positions in her sorority and has taken on service roles through her extracurricular activities at the UO School of Journalism and Communication (SOJC).
“My dad made it a point for my sister and me to engage in community service as kids and teens,” said Hathaway, who grew up in Corvallis, Oregon. “When I stopped doing it with him, I realized it was something I enjoyed doing on my own.”
Hathaway has carried this interest forward in college, serving as vice president of external affairs for the UO chapter of Kappa Alpha Theta from January 2025 through January 2026. As the chapter’s main connection to the sorority’s philanthropy, she oversaw fundraising, online media, alumni relations and community service.
Being highly involved in the university community is important to Hathaway. Along with an ambitious class schedule as a Clark Honors College student, she balances several extracurricular activities.
At the SOJC’s student-run public relations agency, Allen Hall PR, she is an account supervisor for the nonprofit Outside In, leading a team of three account executives and handling client communication and task delegation.
She has also worked at the Holden Center for Leadership and Community Engagement for two years, starting on the Duck Corps, which organizes student teams that volunteer weekly at various nonprofits. These community partners include Hendricks Park, Hearth and Table, Community Supported Shelters, ShelterCare, GrassRoots Garden and Middle School Mentoring.
This year, she has moved into a position on Holden’s leadership development team, facilitating workshops for student, staff and faculty groups. These workshops are focused on skills such as leadership development, identifying personal values and unconscious bias, aiding team-building, and helping participants discover their leadership styles.
She plans to base her honors thesis on the volunteer work she’s doing with Community Supported Shelters. She’ll examine public awareness of homelessness in Eugene and study the disconnect between nonprofits’ successful efforts to combat homelessness and public perceptions of the issue. She plans to use this insight to pitch communications campaigns that can help bridge this awareness gap and increase public support for these nonprofits.
SOJC is a tight-knit community
Hathaway joined the SOJC in her sophomore year as a public relations major and immediately found it to be a welcoming community.
“There’s something for everyone here,” Hathaway said. “If you’re willing to seek it out, it’s there. The SOJC helped me find the major that suits me best. It feels like a community.”
Her advice to students joining the SOJC is to learn the personalities of the four majors: journalism, public relations, advertising and media studies.
“The four niches in the SOJC are very cool and different. It’s almost like a fun personality quiz to see which you fall into,” Hathaway said. “If I had to sum it up, the personality of the PR major is creative and adaptable, but also has lots of professional opportunities, and that’s definitely what made me decide to commit to it.”
Creativity is encouraged in all areas of the SOJC, including in its required courses. Hathaway’s favorite class so far has been Media Ethics with Associate Professor Whitney Phillips.
“We learned about media ethics through the lens of true crime,” Hathaway explained. “I thought that was such a cool concept. I like that the SOJC is a space where you can incorporate that creativity and real-world context, and Professor Phillips did a great job of thinking through the curriculum.”
Study-abroad program helped her find a sustainability path
In addition to majoring in public relations, Hathaway is minoring in sustainable business. She chose to pursue the minor because of her experience on a 2025 wine marketing study abroad trip to Siena, Italy, which taught her about sustainable business practices in the winemaking industry. She found that her studies in Siena intersected well with her public relations studies in Eugene.
“I was using many of the same skills I use for PR while we were consulting with various local wineries about how they could integrate climate-friendly practices,” she said.
These skills include strategic thinking, determining target audiences and using communication tools to expand the company's engagement. She was exposed to client-facing work and created an analysis report for her assigned organization.
She now uses these skills in her internship with Lucy Vernasco Public Relations in Washington, D.C., working with a solar-permitting nonprofit. Her duties include maintaining media lists, tracking publicity and mentions of legislation in the media, assisting Vernasco, securing earned media coverage and drafting op-eds.
After graduation, Hathaway hopes to move to a big city outside of Oregon. Born and raised in the state, she seeks the hustle and bustle of an exciting career in communications in a new city. She is interested in agency roles in the renewable energy and tech communications sector.
“I’m inspired to look past my own bubble and my previous experiences,” she said. “I love it here, but I have a lot of energy at this point in my life and my career.”
Phia Mathison is a third-year public relations major at the SOJC with a minor in global studies. She is also a Clark Honors College student and a communications intern at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art.