Campus Times & La Verne Magazine Among Top College News Outlets
The University of La Verne’s own Campus Times and La Verne Magazine cleaned up in the Columbia Scholastic Press Association’s annual contest for the 2023-24 academic year, each winning the prestigious Silver Crown award for overall publication excellence in their respective categories.
Additionally, the publications won a total of 22 Gold Circle Awards for individual stories and photos.
The Silver Crown wins put the publications among the top seven college newspapers/online hybrids and among the top three college magazines across the U.S. and Canada.
Among other newspaper Gold and Silver Crown winners were Indiana University’s The Indiana Student, Baylor’s Lariat, and Texas Tech’s The Daily Toreador; additional magazine winners included the University of Wisconsin’s CURB, and the University of Miami’s Distraction magazines.
The annual contest, based at the Columbia University School of Journalism, had nearly 7,000 total entrants across its various categories.
Journalism Professor Elizabeth Zwerling advises the Campus Times and Journalism Professors George Keeler and Randy Miller advise the La Verne Magazine. Journalism Operations Manager and adjunct professor Eric Borer is photography advisor for both publications.
Journalism major and 2024 alumna Sarah Van Buskirk was editor-in-chief of the Campus Times in fall 2023, and journalism major and 2024 Alumna Taylor Moore was editor-in chief of the Campus Times in spring 2024. Journalism major and 2024 alumna Abelina Nuñez was magazine editor fall 2023 and Journalism major and 2024 alumna Samira Felix was magazine editor in spring 2024.
See the list of Gold Circle individual award below.
Crown Awards are considered at Columbia by panels of invited judges made up of professional journalists and academics from across the nation. Working in small groups, the judges scrutinize the publications for depth and breadth of coverage, writing, editing, photography, and design. Winners were announced this spring during the Columbia Scholastic Press Association’s 101st annual convention.
The CSPA is an international student press association uniting student journalists and faculty advisers at colleges through educational conferences, idea exchanges and award programs. Owned and operated by Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, the Association founded in 1925 is one of the oldest, largest, and most prestigious student journalism associations.
While our publication advisors and student staff winners are thrilled with this year’s numerous accolades in this prestigious contest, the honors are not a complete surprise, as our publications have been consistent annual winners in this international contest for more than two decades. [See https://lvcampustimes.org/awards/ and https://lavernemagazine.org/awards/ for awards lists.]
Still at a time when journalistic independence and academic freedom are as never before, the University of La Verne journalism program is proud of its award-winning publications, which serve the La Verne Community and beyond with objectivity and fierce independence, training the journalists of tomorrow to practice with the highest ethical standards, holding the powers that be to account.
Gold Circle awards for individual stories and photos included a total of 18 for the Campus Times and four for the La Verne Magazine as follows:
Campus Times Individual Award Winners:
- Samira Felix, First Place for News Writing for “Adjunct faculty emphasize need for contracts.”
- Samira Felix and Sarah Van Buskirk, Second Place for Alternate Story Form for “New President Mahdavi shares personal story and plans for the university.”
- Kelli Makenna Kuttruff, Certificate of Merit for General Feature Writing for “LV houses go all out for Halloween.”
- Lindsey Pacela, Certificate of Merit for General Feature for “Hikers experience magic of the sea.”
- Jonas Holt, Third Place for Photo Story for “Swim teams drop senior day meet,” Campus Times, University of La Verne, La Verne, California
- Amanda Torres, First Place for Single Feature Photo for “Headbanging at the Glass House.”
- Olivia Modarelli, Second Place for Single Feature Photo for “Sluttony Concert.”
- Christopher Rodriguez, Third Place for Single Feature Photo for “Magic Show.”
- Nareg Agopian, First Place for Sports Photography for “Football vs. CMS.”
- Christopher Rodriguez, Second Place for Sports Photography for “Softball vs. Redlands”
- Sheridan Lambrook, Third Place for Sports Photography for “Softball – Taylor Gray Celebration.”
- Sarah Van Buskirk, Certificate of Merit for Sports Photography for “Women’s Water Polo vs. Chapman”
- Nareg Agopian, Certificate of Merit for Sports Photography for “Women’s Soccer vs. Caltech”
- Sheridan Lambrook, First Place, Photography Portfolio of Work
- Amanda Torres, Second Place, Photography Portfolio of Work
- Nareg Agopian, Third Place, Photography Portfolio of Work
- Sheridan Lambrook and Amanda Torres, Third Place Single Subject Feature Package, Double-truck (two-facing pages), for “University of La Verne inaugurates 19th president.”
- Sarah Van Buskirk and Lindsey Pacela, Certificate of Merit, Single Subject Feature Package, Double-truck (two-facing pages) for “Sex Workers: Stepping Out of the Shadows.”
La Verne Magazine Individual Award Winners:
- Olivia Modarelli, M20. Photography, Second Place for Single News feature Photograph for “Making Music and Memories at The Haven”
- Chris Rogers, Third Place, Photo Illustration for “The Best Pizza in La Verne.”
- Kim Toth, Certificate of Merit, Cover Design for General or Feature Magazine, for La Verne Magazine Winter 2024
- Chris Rogers, Certificate of Merit, Cover Design for General or Feature Magazine, for La Verne Magazine Summer 2024
