COMM alumna Melisa Brown (MS 2020) and Dr. Brian Richardson were featured on the December episode of UNT Pod, which focuses on "UNT Heroes." Melisa and Dr. Richardson's segment, which begins at the 13:00 minute mark of the podcast, addresses the COMM department's professionalization programs, including COMM Future Pros and the COMM Alumni Mentoring Program.

The episode features the following UNT students, faculty and alumni:

• UNT Spider-Man (version 2.0)
• Travis Monk, an alum and Collin County deputy sheriff who saved a family of six on Lake Lavon
• Brian Richardson, former chair of UNT's Department of Communication Studies who has implemented programs to help students and alumni achieve the careers of their dreams
• Lauren Taylor, a current grad student, Miss Wheelchair Texas 2019 and volunteer with the Dallas-based nonprofit To Be Like Me, which uses interactive experiences to build awareness and compassion in children when it comes to differences and disabilities
• Steven Pettit, a kinesiology alum and Mean Green super fan, who at age 39 was diagnosed with stage IV esophageal cancer and given only a year to live
• Lehi Tollestrup, a grad student in rehabilitation counseling and Army veteran, who after surviving his own battle with PTSD and addiction strives to help support active-duty military and veterans struggling with mental health issues
• Mentions of our historic military heroes, our healthcare heroes, and other heroes including alums Lilyan Prado Carrillo, Given Kachepa, Kia Davis, Jackie Davis and Krystal Hamilton.

The episode (Episode 21) can be found at this link: https://anchor.fm/unt-pod/episodes/Episode-21---UNT-Heroes-enlva2