On March 17, the Michigan Press Association (MPA) announced the winners of its annual Better Newspaper Contest. Five Pleiad staff members were recognized over seven categories by the MPA as 2021 College Best Newspaper Contest awardees, including two first place wins.
The Pleiad editorial team submitted what it deemed to be the best articles and photos from the 2020-2021 academic school year to the contest. These entries were submitted in October and were judged by non-Michigan journalists.
As a weekly paper, the Pleiad is categorized in Division Two for the contest and was judged against other Division Two college newspapers, including the Hillsdale College Collegian and the Grand Valley State University Grand Valley Lanthorn. Additionally, there are six open-class categories pertaining to media content, in which the Pleiad took one second place win for Best News-Only Photo.
The Pleiad’s winning submissions are as follows:
Best Writer
- Honorable Mention – Aura Ware
Column – News
- First Place – Jordan Revenaugh, “Note from the Editor: We Still Have an Issue“
- Second Place – Sam Semerau, “Opinion: Community Policing Doesn’t Help an Apathetic Community”
Column – Sports
- First Place – Jordan Revenaugh, “Opinion: Sports Teams have More than Games to Lose this Year“
Feature Story
- Third Place – Aura Ware, “Black Women Winning: Jada Stewart“
Front Page Design
- Second Place – Irene Corona-Avila, March 5 Print Edition
News-Only Photo
- Second Place – Peach Norman Owen, “Lifting and Amplifying Black Voices Following Racist Incidents on Campus“
In the past, the Pleiad has won six awards in 2009, two in 2013, five in 2018, 10 in 2019, and two in 2020. This year marks the second highest number of awards won in an individual year by the Pleiad in the MPA Better Newspaper Contest. This year also marks the first time the Pleiad has won an award in design from the contest.
Way to go, Brits!
If “We still have an issue” won, isn’t a follow-up overdue? Was the student expelled and criminal charges filed like the college promised? Or were they only temporarily suspended? Is the student on campus now?