As award season heads to an end, The University Star has walked away with over a dozen state and national awards.
The weekly paper won awards from the College Media Association, Texas Intercollegiate Press Association and the Society of Professional Journalists. CMA, a national media convention that judges previously published content, was hosted in fall 2018 in Louisville, Kentucky, and was attended by Editor-in-Chief Carrington Tatum, Managing Editor Sawyer Click and former editor May Olvera.
At the Fall National College Media Convention, The Star placed second for Best Breaking News Story for “Heartbreak hits home” by Olvera and former Managing Editor Bri Watkins. The story detailed the Nov. 5 Sutherland Springs shooting that left 26 people killed and 20 people injured.
Most recently, the student journalists received 12 awards at TIPA’s annual conference held in Corpus Christi from March 13-16. TIPA is the oldest state collegiate press association in the country. It consists of 77 public and private two-year colleges and four-year universities in Texas that have journalism courses or student publications.
Ten staff members competed in the all-divisions on-site competitions, and the paper submitted works to be judged for the Division I previously published categories, in which it walked away with ___ wad
The University Star had five on-site competition winners: Jacob Rodriguez, first place, sports writing; Jaden Edison, first place, sports action photography; Samantha Guerrero, second place, editorial writing; Sierra Martin, third place, feature photo; Claire Partain, honorable mention, copy editing.
Assistant Multimedia Editor Jaden Edison, electronic media sophomore, said his award showcases the diversity of his skillset.
“I believe I’ve always had the confidence to go out and capture photos of anything or anyone that I’ve put my mind to but to see it come to fruition was such a humbling and amazing experience,” Edison said.
The Star also had several staff members win in the previously published Division I category: Jessi Spain, Garrett McGinley and Sawyer Click placed first in Interactive Graphic for “The Timeline of Connor Clegg’s Administration”; Stephanie Cloyd placed second for Cartoon Strip/Panel for her illustration, “Procrastination”; Click, Jakob Rodriguez and Kaiti Evans placed third in In-Depth Reporting for “Allegations against President Boreing reveal Student Government trend of TPUSA affiliations”; Creative Services Director Megan Hicks placed third in Print Ad Campaign was awarded to Megan Hicks for Soapbox Soundoff; Vivian media placed third in Cover Design Newspaper for He’s Out, third place in Special Section Design for Apartment Guide and received an honorable mention for Feature Page Design in San Marcos Stars.
Click, journalism senior, has been with The University Star since October 2017 and has been managing editor since August 2018. He was recently accepted in Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism to pursue an M.S. in Data Journalism.
“I think my acceptance into Columbia shows that the Star can really take you places,” Click said. “We have Star alum everywhere, so I think it’s a testament to our strength and influence as a paper.”
The Society of Professional Journalist announced its 2018 Mark of Excellence awards in March, in which The Star competed against other Region 8 newspapers with a student population of over 10,000, including the University of Texas at Dallas’ Mercury and the University of North Texas’ North Texas Daily.
Editor-in-Chief Carrington Tatum won first place in General News Reporting for Department of Housing and Residential Life silences RAs with unconstitutional policy. Click, Sports Editor Jakob Rodriguez and former news reporter Kaiti Evans were finalists for In-Depth Reporting for the same piece on former Student Government President Brooklyn Boreing’s TPUSA allegations. Olvera was a finalist for Feature Writing for her feature, Sutherland Springs: ‘evil did not win’. Associate Managing Editor Bayley Bogus was a finalist for General Column Writing.
Tatum’s win at the regional level means his article will advance to the national competition to be further judged for the national award.
“There are a lot of great Texas schools in our area that do good journalism. It’s a competitive environment” Tatum said. “To win regionally, this recognition is proof that I can do reporting at a high level.”