Jana Tidwell has been teaching at Cabrini for three years now. She first taught event planning her first year. Now, she has been teaching public relations for two years.
Tidwell grew up in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. From New Jersey, she went to Cabrini. Tidwell is of the graduate class of 1996. She majored in communication and minored in marketing. Her first teaching role is also at Cabrini. After teaching event planning for a year, she took over the class her former public relations adjunct professor, Melissa Reich used to teach her when she was a student at Cabrini. When Reich retired after 30 years of teaching, Dr. Dawn Francis, chair of communication and associate professor asked Tidwell to cover the class Reich used to teach.
Tidwell has 25 years of work experience in the public relations PR industry. Before coming to teach at Cabrini as an adjunct instructor, she had worked at a PR industry in Philadelphia. Now she works at AAA, where she is the manager of public affairs. In these times, she is giving public awareness on how to drive in the snow, what to do before it snows and what to carry for when it does snow.
“Dr. Francis developed an event planning minor. She asked me if I could teach a course through my adjunct PR instructor, Melissa Reich. Event planning comes with PR and I had the experience to teach the course. So, I taught it for two semesters. After 30 years of teaching, Reich planned to retire. I will never fill the shoes of Reich because she motivated me to go into the career I am in today,” Jana Tidwell, adjunct public relations instructor, said.
Tidwell chose to come back to Cabrini because she loved Cabrini as a student and it is a special place for her. Cabrini gave her a lot to be thankful for and lifelong friendships. She also met her husband Eric Tidwell, computer science major, at Cabrini. “My motivation is to have the same impact Reich had on me on other students,” Tidwell said.
The size of Cabrini never affected Tidwell’s education, she believes that if one is in the race as a student, one does not only leave with a great education. One also leaves with great connections. “Many of my friends did not have the same friendships I had when I was at Cabrini. Now older, my friends from Cabrini have all been to each other’s weddings. Some of us are even godparents for each other’s children,” Tidwell said.
Tidwell and her husband are very involved with the school. Her husband was a four-year varsity starter for the basketball team. He still has strong connections with his coaches to this day. “Even my kids know Cabrini very well. They have been to Cabrini even before they learned how to walk,” Tidwell said.
“We have impactful conversations in my classroom. I can ensure all students that look for help that I will do anything in my power to help them because I have two kids of my own. I want my kids to get the same attention I give to any other student,” Tidwell said.
