CIM graduation prize renaming

Figure 1: Geneva Guerrieri (Photograph provided by Mrs Guerrieri)

Bournemouth University and the Chartered institute of Marketing (CIM) have renamed the CIM graduation prize to honour the memory of Geneva Guerrieri, a 2017-18 BA (Hons) Marketing Communications graduate who sadly passed in October 2018. The ‘Geneva Guerrieri prize awarded by the Chartered Institute of Marketing’ will be presented for the first time to the top student on the BA (Hons) Marketing Communications degree at the University’s Graduation Ceremony on 06 November 2019. Geneva’s mother, Mrs Sue Guerrieri, has said on behalf of the family that she is ‘overwhelmed and honoured’ to have her daughter’s memory recognised with this award.

Geneva was posthumously awarded a First Class Honours degree at the Graduation Ceremony in November 2018; she was an exemplary student during her time at Bournemouth University (2014-18), taking on many student ambassador and representative roles. Geneva was also heavily involved with the CIM and successfully achieved three CIM professional qualifications at Foundation, Certificate and Diploma levels as an undergraduate, the first student to do this at the University. In addition, Geneva was a key member of the student team that organised the nationally important Mike Warne Event in February 2018, the annual collaboration between the CIM and BU and the only student-led event in the CIM’s event programme.

The renaming was approved by the Faculty of Media and Communication Executive and the University’s awards committee. The CIM’s Director of Qualifications and Partnerships, Maggie Jones, and the CIM South West Region Chair, Brian Doidge, gave the CIM’s agreement. Moreover, Geneva’s peers in the graduate cohort of 2017-18 and the current cohort of 2018-19, as well as BU staff who knew Geneva, expressed their wishes to commemorate Geneva in this long-standing and meaningful way.