For Immediate Release – Lawton, OK, April 26, 2005
Cameron University student newspaper
wins numerous awards at annual contest
Cameron University’s student newspaper, The Collegian, recently added another page to its award-winning
history.
The Collegian earned seven individual awards, as well as the highest overall honor – the Award of
Excellence – during the annual Oklahoma Collegiate Press Association (OCPA) conference held this month
in Stillwater.
Professional journalists from the Kansas Associated Collegiate Press judged the 20 Oklahoma collegiate
newspapers in the competition. The judges commended The Collegian’s completeness of coverage,
presentation, illustrations, general appearance and stories.
“(The Collegian) is a well-designed publication,” wrote one judge. “It is visually appealing and the design
helps structure the content for your readers. The overall coverage is very good with a nice mixture of news,
features, opinion and sports.”
The Collegian also competed in the seven individual writing categories and three individual non-writing
categories (editorial cartoons, photography and display advertising) with several staff members earning
recognition.
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collegian, ADD ONE
Ian Mitchell, a multimedia senior from St. Lucia, received first place for sports writing, while journalism
senior Laura Brady from Lawton took first place in feature writing.
Other Collegian staff members that receive awards were Angela Gradoz, senior journalism major from
Lawton, who took second place in news writing; Jeff Simpson, a recent graduate now living in Oklahoma
City, ranked third in reviews; Leah Hicks, a junior graphic design major from Snyder, received honorable
mention for editorial cartoons; Angela Sanders, a senior journalism major from Lawton was awarded
honorable mention for display advertising; and Collegian managing editor Anna Politano, a senior
journalism major from Brazil, received honorable mention for her editorial writing.
“This has been a successful year for The Collegian,” Politano said. “Along with OCPA awards, we produced
the first ever 16-page newspaper in Cameron’s history, breaking the previous record of 12 pages. I am
proud of our staff’s commitment to producing a high-quality newspaper.”
Christopher Keller, the newspaper’s faculty adviser and assistant professor in the communication
department, said the publication’s achievements are a direct result of the effort shown by the student
editors and writers.
“Producing a quality college newspaper, such as The Collegian, requires the dedication of an entire staff,”
Keller said. “Each week this staff was diligent in their pursuit of excellence and expended the creative
energy necessary to produce one of the best student newspapers in the state. I am proud of what they
have accomplished, not just at the OCPA conference, but this entire year. They are truly an extraordinary
group of journalists.”
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PR#05-109
Editors and Broadcasters: For details, contact CU Government & Community Relations at 580.581.2211.