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Karla Hunter, professor in the South Dakota State University School of Communication and Journalism, is the recipient of the Jack Kay Award for Community Engagement and Applied Communication Scholarship from the Central States Communication Association.
 
The award was developed in memory of Jack Kay, former Central States Communication Association president and a scholar in argumentation, political communication and rhetoric. According to the association website, the award “recognizes and celebrates a significant body of engaged, applied and/or activist communication scholarship.” 
 
“It’s a tremendous honor to have been selected for this award, named for iconic teacher-scholar and change agent Dr. Jack Kay, who worked tirelessly toward helping people overcome barriers to human rights and educational attainment,” Hunter said.
 
Throughout her career, Hunter’s scholarship has grown and evolved to “elevate educational and health care opportunities essential to self-sufficiency and quality of life.”
 
“Over the past nine years, I have been honored to build expertise as well as lifelong friendships along my journey of culturally responsive scholarship, social justice and Indigenizing research through community-based, participatory projects with tribal college and university faculty; American Indian college students; and tribal government and health care organizations, patient advocates, individuals suffering from serious illnesses and their families,” Hunter explained. 
 
“My scholarship has evolved to a position that lies at the intersection of health, instructional and political/public policy communication and aims to enhance opportunities for wellness and well-being through evidence-based, culturally responsive interventions to foster self-efficacy,” she added.
 
Hunter has been the recipient of other awards and recognitions, including the 2023 Outstanding Social Science Research Award from the ����ֱ��app College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, the 2022 Joyce Lampson Award for Excellence in Faculty Citizenship from the ����ֱ��app School of Communication and Journalism and the 2022 Distinguished Service Award from the Speech Communication Association of South Dakota.
 
Some of her notable projects and publications include “The Harnessing Hope/Harvesting Hope Project,” which is a community-based project aimed to foster American Indian college students’ resilience and persistence through storytelling and mentorship. Partnerships across campus and with tribal communities, along with grant funding, have pushed this project to its sixth successful year.
 
Hunter is also a collaborator on the project “Culturally Responsive Palliative Care Messaging for American Indians: An Efficacy Trial.” The project purpose is to “increase knowledge and enhance attitudes and potential use of palliative care among Lakota people on three of South Dakota’s Native American reservations (Pine Ridge, Rosebud and Cheyenne River).”
 
“My hope is that this work can create positive ripples throughout the communities of my students, my tribal college and university faculty colleagues and the reservation communities with whom I have the honor of working,” Hunter said.