When Gemma Puglisi attended the funeral for Nancy Lynn, the stoic image of her son, Pete Muntean, stuck with her.
"I was devastated and my heart went out to her son," Puglisi said. "I knew then that I wanted to devote this coming semester to Nancy and to her son, Pete."
Working with her Public Relations Portfolio class, Puglisi, a professor in the School of Communication, introduced students to Pete and his story, starting on their semester-long project to raise money and awareness about Pete and Nancy Lynn.
Nancy Lynn, originally from Annapolis, Md., was an aerobatic pilot, one of the only women in the field, Puglisi said.
"It's a field that's basically all men," she said, explaining that Nancy Lynn and her son worked together on the air shows she performed all over the country.
"She knew there were risks ... she taught people how to fly planes," Puglisi said. "She was very inspirational."
Lynn died from injuries she suffered as a result of a crash at a stunt show at Culpeper Regional Airport in October 2006, according to The Washington Post. Muntean was emceeing at the time of his mother's death, The Post reported.
Puglisi had worked with Lynn previously through a graduate class Puglisi taught, where students helped Lynn gain sponsorship for her air shows. Although Puglisi met with Lynn several times, she never met Muntean until she attended Lynn's funeral. When his mother died, Muntean was 18.
"I was driven to do something for Pete," Puglisi said, who said she believes the PR campaign has been beneficial to Muntean. "It's helping him through the grieving process. He's really connected with students."
Puglisi said this is the first PR campaign she has conducted for someone who has passed away, and she said the project has provided students with practical PR experience.
So far, students have held fundraising events at the Mongolian Barbeque and have started a petition to change the name of the airport Lynn flew out of, Bay Bridge Airport, located in Stevensville, Md., in her honor.
"It was really nice to see that something you put your time and energy into was making him happy and he was so thankful for anything and everything we have been doing," Kaitlin DeTroia, a senior in SOC, said of the Mongolian Barbeque event in an e-mail. "It's really great to think that something you are working on in class is a 'real world' issue ... and we are doing something to help it."
In addition, students have set up two funds for Muntean, one for his everyday living expenses and one for his college expenses. According to Molly Doyle, a student in the class and a senior in SOC, Muntean said he would be interested in attending AU.
Students in the PR class have also pitched Muntean's story to various talk shows including "Ellen," "Oprah" and "Regis and Kelly," as well as various magazines. A challenge, Puglisi said, is making people see how Muntean's story stands out.
"As a PR practitioner, people come to us with a project and we do our best to get them out there," she said.
Other projects students have worked on include getting local artists to create artwork of Lynn and gathering donations from different local restaurants, Puglisi said. Students have also sent letters to the mayor of Annapolis and the CEO of the Baltimore Orioles asking for donations.
Students in the class have been able to gain practical PR skills, but have also found the experience of helping Pete very rewarding.
"It feels really good to know that our class is helping a person who really needs us," said Abby Baram, a senior in SOC, in an e-mail. "With so many different campaigns, you don't always know who is directly being affected by the work you do, but it's been a wonderful experience for our class to know exactly who we are helping."
Puglisi said she has enjoyed working with Muntean.
"[Muntean]'s living with parents of his best friend, goes to community college ... he's such an amazing kid," Puglisi said. "He's way beyond his years"
