By Rhiannon Saegert/managing editor
The Texas Associated Press Managing Editors selected The Collegian as the best non-daily college newspaper in Texas for 2013.
Former Collegian editor-in-chief Karen Gavis said she was elated to hear the news.
“I’m very, very happy and proud of TCC right now and everyone at The Collegian,” said Gavis, now a student at Texas Christian University. “I had some of the best advisers.”
She said the award shows how hard the staff worked and how well they worked together.
“It’s just a really big burst of pride to be part of something,” she said. “To be a community college competing against four-year colleges and to have pulled that off is very remarkable. For me, as a nontraditional student returning to school, going to college later in life, it’s really special to have been part of that.”
Current Collegian editor-in-chief Kenney Kost worked as managing editor under Gavis. He said he learned a lot about leadership by working with her.
“I just feel very proud to have the opportunity to work for the paper with a staff that cares about news, first and foremost,” he said. “It just shows that we have a good staff who are dedicated to journalism, and I’m honored to have been a part of it.”
He said he was grateful for the guidance of The Collegian director Eddye Gallagher and adviser Chris Whitley.
“We have a unique situation in that we’re one of the few papers that cover multiple campuses,” Gallagher said. “Several schools have multiple campuses, but they don’t attempt to cover them or they don’t cover them as completely as we try to.”
She said The Collegian won the award while covering five campuses with a comparatively smaller staff than most college newspapers.
“I was excited and pleased for the students,” she said. “It’s the most prestigious award that a student newspaper can receive here in Texas. I think it shows how hard they worked and how professional they were.”
Whitley said winning this award for the first time means more recognition and respect for The Collegian.
“There are a lot of very deserving college newspapers just in this area, let alone statewide,” he said. “One of the main reasons we won, I believe, is for our coverage of the [January 2013] shooting of the theft suspect on SE Campus, and although a number of people did great work contributing to that coverage, editor-in-chief Kenney Kost in particular did great work, which is why it was great to see him accept the award.”
The shooting occurred when Jordan Hatcher shoplifted a Wii controller from a Target store, struggled with and fled from police and ran to a SE Campus parking lot where he was shot by a Grand Prairie police officer.
Newspapers in the contest were judged on the quality of their writing and news coverage, editing, layout, graphics and photos.
