Collegian, staff win awards, scholarships

By Chris Webb/nw news editor

The Collegian staff won 20 awards in a journalism competition at the annual Texas Intercollegiate Press Association in College Station April 3-5, and several staff members have been awarded scholarships from various organizations.

For the TIPA competition, awards were judged on previously published work and pitted students from The Collegian against 11 other Texas schools, both four- and two-year colleges. TCC competes against newspapers published one to three times per week by member schools with the largest enrollments.

TCC won 17 awards for work from last fall and spring.

Susan Tallant, former editor of The Collegian and current columnist for The Shorthorn, UTA’s paper, won four awards, including first place in headline and feature story, third place in editorial and honorable mention in news story.

On Thursday, the first day of the convention, staff members joined in on-site competitions with more than 400 student journalists participating and placed in three categories.

Katie Hudson-Martinez, feature editor, won first place in press release writing.

Sara Pintilie, Collegian entertainment editor, won third place in critical review and received honorable mention in newspaper design.

“It was amazing to place in not one but two on-site competitions. It is always a good feeling giving juniors and seniors at major universities a run for their money,” Pintilie said.

Along with Tallant, other winners from the previously published contest included Charity Montieth, formerCollegian managing editor, who won second place for picture story, third for sports feature photo and honorable mention for news story. 

Hudson-Martinez, Keisha McDuffie, Collegian design editor, Isaiah Smith, former Collegian entertainment editor, and Martina Treviño, Collegian reporter/photographer, won first place for in-depth reporting. McDuffie also received honorable mention in critical review.

Other winners were Johnathan Deaton-Lee, first place for feature photo; Daniel Worthington, third place for editorial cartoon; Kendra Ludwick, third place for news feature story; Claire Lancaster, honorable mention for sports action photo; and Chris Cates, honorable mention for sports column.

As a staff, The Collegian took home first place in feature page design and information graphic, second in photo illustration, third in single subject presentation and honorable mention in general Web site excellence.

The second day of the conference was filled with seminars presented by professional journalists.

“I loved the political seminar (Political Reporting; A View from Both Sides of the Desk). I learned a lot about the political side of writing that could really influence where my career goes,” Sarah McVean, Collegian photo editor, said.

During the closing awards brunch, Hudson-Martinez won the Mike Warms Scholarship.

Diane Turner, adviser for The Collegian and member of the TIPA Hall of Fame, was honored by the TIPA and Texas Community College Journalism Association faculty for her 40 years of service to journalism students, publications and the organizations.

Several staff members recently received scholarships from other groups.

Mark Bauer, editor, received a Texas Gridiron Scholarship and Pintilie a Lina Davis Memorial Scholarship from the Society of Professional Journalists. Hudson-Martinez won the John Gutierrez-Mier Scholarship from the Dallas/Fort Worth Network of Hispanic Communicators.