Chad Graves

After graduating in 2012, I started almost immediately at an in house marketing agency for a privately owned automotive group in Raleigh. That position eventually lead me to helping Co-Found Reunion Marketing with a team of like-minded individuals. Recently, I was given the title of Vice President of Sales and in 3 years we have been able to grow from a team of 6 to 35 employees serving over 150 accounts across the nation. The decision to endow the scholarship was a combination of a personal goal and a company goal for Reunion Marketing. Since my graduation from UNCW, I have tried to stay involved, specifically with the Communication Studies program and give back in any way I could. As a company, we hope to support local students with an interest in marketing as well as have an impact on students and expose them to our company. As someone who had to finance my own education, my hope is that we can just help make a difference students in that situation.  It is not easy to balance school work, part time jobs, internships all while knowing the amount of debt you are accruing while in school. If we can even help out a little bit by making it easier for someone to take that extra class or go that extra mile, then I feel the scholarship will have achieved what I hoped for. There are many ways that I think Communication Studies and the degree have set me apart. I really feel that it is a difference of philosophy from the business marketing degree that some of my partners and our employees have. The best way that I can sum it is up is the value in being well-rounded. My coursework allowed me to gain skills in interpersonal communication, marketing, public relations, public speaking which I use daily in my current role.