Student Newspaper Wins Awards in State Contest

Knox College's weekly campus newspaper, The Knox Student, was recognized as one of the top college newspapers in Illinois on Saturday, February 23, winning first place in General Excellence in its division in the Illinois College Press Association (ICPA) contest. Results of the contest were announced at the ICPA's annual convention last weekend in Chicago, Illinois.

TKS staffers also won 12 other awards in the contest. TKS competes in the division for non-dailies with a circulation of less than 4,000.

The General Excellence award is based on three issues of the newspaper chosen by the convention staff and judged on content and design. This is the second time that TKS has won General Excellence in the last five years. The paper also received the honor in 2010 and took second place overall in 2011.

"This finish further cements TKS among the best small college student newspapers in Illinois," TKS advisor Tom Martin said. "The students continue to improve TKS, and this year's group of editors is exceptional."

On Saturday, Martin was elected to the ICPA board, serving as an at-large member representing small colleges. As a board member, Martin will have a vote regarding such topics as the annual convention and contest.

Twelve TKS staffers attended the conference, participating in journalism workshops on Friday and Saturday. They included editor-in-chief Anna Meier, managing editor Charlie Gorney, co-news editors Matt Barry and Julian Boireau, co-Mosaic editors Paige Anderson and Chelsea Embree, enterprise editor Matt McKinney, Discourse editor Samantha Paul, photo editors Michelle Orr and Jason Deschamps, copy editor Camille Brown, and graphic designer Andrei Papancea.

The Knox Student was founded in 1878 by S.S. McClure who, after graduating from Knox, created McClure's Magazine, one of the first publications in the field of American investigative journalism.

TKS staffers won additional awards by competing both in the newspaper's division and in the "open" division, which included 33 college papers from across the state of Illinois.

Also, Jason Deschamps, TKS associate photo editor, was named a runner-up in the annual "Shoot Chicago" photography competition during the ICPA conference.

Here is a rundown of the ICPA awards to TKS staffers:

First Place

• Critical Film Review (Open Division), Ivan Keta
• Front Page Layout, Julian Boireau and Charlie Gorney
• Sports Game Story, Jackson White
• Sports Page Design, Andrei Papancea and Jackson White

Second Place

• Feature Page Design, Katy Sutcliffe
• Feature Photo, Jessica Couvillier
• Sports Page Design, Andrei Papancea and Jackson White

Third Place

• In-Depth Reporting, Anna Meier
• Other Cartoon (Open Division), Elizabeth Schult

Honorable Mention

• Column Excluding Sports (Open Division), Matt Barry
• Sports Feature Story, Matt McKinney
• Editorial (Open Division), Staff

(Photo at top of page: TKS staffers at the ICPA convention. Front row from left: Matt McKinney, Michelle Orr, Paige Anderson, Anna Meier, Matt Barry, Samantha Paul. Back row from left: Julian Boireau, Charlie Gorney, Chelsea Embree, Tom Martin, Andrei Papancea, Jason Deschamps, Camille Brown. Photo courtesy of Michelle Orr/TKS)