By Jade Myers/campus editor
Students in cubicles on iMac desktop computers are hard at work. A few write, some edit photos while others work on layout and design and one works on ads. All have the goal of creating a weekly newspaper.
This is the usual sight at the office where The Collegian, TCC’s student-run newspaper, has been produced every week during the fall and spring for over 30 years.
Over spring break, The Collegian raked in 22 awards and honors, all for work done by students in 2018 and 2019.
“It took a lot of hard work from a small number of people to put the paper together and was a truly collaborative effort,” current editor-in-chief JW McNay said.
The paper won first place for the Associated Press Managing Editors award for best non-daily college newspaper in Texas, which means they beat out not just two-year schools but four-year universities as well.
“Some people might think that two-year schools don’t stand a chance, but the awards speak for themselves,” McNay said.
The publication won 12 awards and four honorable mentions over spring break at the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association conference as well as a scholarship that was awarded to McNay.
The Collegian also won in two categories and were finalists, in two others for the Society of Professional Journalists’ Region 8 awards.
The paper has been around for 30 years and has a history of winning awards before, even with a smaller staff, McNay said, adding that was definitely the case in 2018.
“It was extremely challenging,” said Suzann Clay, who was a designer, photographer, web designer and copy editor throughout 2018.
“We’ve almost always had a small staff, but it was smaller than most semesters,” she said.
Long hours and the passion for her work is what drove her.
“I lived at The Collegian, not because anybody asked me to but because I wanted to,” Clay said.
She wanted to make sure that everything they put out was great because it had her name on it and it represented TCC.
Many of the awards have Clay’s name on them as well as Kathryn Kelman, who was the editor-in-chief throughout 2018.
“Individual awards are nice, but I care more about how the paper does overall,” Kelman said.
The awards for the paper tell more about her leadership qualities than anything else, she said.
“It’s really key as an editor-in-chief to get your fellow editors and your designers and your photographers to see what you wanna do and work behind you or work next to you and get there and achieve their goals,” Kelman said.
Awards
Texas Associated Press Managing Editors,
Austin, March 9
1st place, Best Newspaper, University and College Division
Society of Professional Journalists,
Region 8 Mark of Excellence Awards
Winner, Jamil Oakford, Breaking News Reporting
Winner, Aftin Gavin, Editorial Cartooning
Finalist, Daniel LeNoir, Breaking News Photography
Finalist, The Collegian, Best All-Around
Non-Daily Student Newspaper
Texas Intercollegiate Press Association,
Corpus Christi, March 16
1st place, JW McNay, Breaking News, Beto rally
1st place, Michael Foster-Sanders, Critical Review, Creed II
1st place, Kathryn Kelman, General News, Grab ‘em by the midterms
1st place, Suzann Clay, Cover Design, Campus hunger
1st place, Suzann Clay, Feature Page Design,
Holiday happenings to deck your halls
1st place, Suzann Clay, Photo Illustration, Grab ‘em by the midterms
2nd place, The Collegian, Overall Excellence Newspaper
2nd place, Kathryn Kelman, Feature Story, He too
2nd place, Christa Jarvis, Newspaper Design live contest
3rd place, Jamil Oakford, Breaking News, Astronomy instructor
3rd place, Suzann Clay, Special Design Print, Orientation issue
3rd place, Kathryn Kelman and Jamil Oakford,
Social Media-Breaking News, Women’s March
Honorable mention, The Collegian, Overall Design Website
Honorable mention, Jamil Oakford, Editorial,
School tragedies can’t become new normal
Honorable mention, Kathryn Kelman, Feature Story, Former Olympian
Honorable mention, Juan Ibarra, Critical Review live contest
Warms Scholarship winner – JW McNay
