Best of CASE District VII Award
 

Institution: University of California, Santa Cruz

Title of entry: UC Santa Cruz Alumni Achievement Award

About this entry: The Alumni Achievement Award video highlighting alumna Terri McCullough was created for a multi-layered audience: alumni, donors, campus partners, and prospective students. Strategically, the video served as both a centerpiece awards presentation and an evergreen storytelling asset illustrating UC Santa Cruz’s transformative impact.

Guided by the narrative mission defined in our creative brief, the video answered three essential questions: Who is Terri McCullough, why is she receiving UC Santa Cruz’s highest alumni honor, and how did UCSC shape her leadership trajectory? The story arc connects her experience as a first-generation student at Oakes College with her historic role as the first woman to serve as Chief of Staff to the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The production emphasized cinematic authenticity, disciplined interview selection, and purposeful B-roll. Rather than relying on traditional testimonial structure, the video integrates moments of national consequence with deeply personal reflection.

Premiered at the Alumni Awards ceremony, the video replaced conventional award speeches, sustaining audience engagement while delivering institutional messaging. Post-event, the film became a high-performing digital asset used in donor cultivation, recruitment storytelling, and leadership communications. The result is a narrative that elevates both the honoree and the university, demonstrating how UC Santa Cruz shapes leaders whose impact extends nationally.