By Audrey Werth/tr news editor
The Collegian came home from the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association Convention in San Antonio with the sweepstakes award, signifying that the newspaper had won the most awards in its division.
The paper won 21 other awards at the state college press conference April 9-11.
“The TIPA Convention is a gathering of the state’s college media, and it’s kind of cool because at most colleges the student media publications stand out from the rest of the school,” said Collegian adviser Chris Whitley. “It’s like kindred spirits meeting.”
TCC is one of only three two-year institutions represented in Division 2, which groups together 13 large college weekly publications in the state.
Student publications director Eddye Gallagher, who has been involved in TIPA for a long time, was pleased to see The Collegian do so well this year.
“It’s been a while since we’ve won sweepstakes, so I was thrilled when we got to bring that home this year,” she said. “It’s great to hear students get excited about the workshops and competitions and to come back with affirmation of the work they are doing.”
Awards were presented both for on-site competitions, during which two current Collegian members Jamil Oakford and Hope Sandusky received recognition for their writing, and for work submitted from the 2014 calendar year.
“We had a good variety of awards in design, photography and writing, so it just shows that we have a wide range of talent on staff,” Gallagher said.
Of the 18 awards given to individual Collegian staff members for their submissions, six were first-place awards.
“I’m very proud. We consistently have wonderful students who work incredibly hard to produce top-quality work,” Whitley said. “TIPA is nice because they emphasize individual awards.”
Managing editor Tabitha Redder was happy to receive a first-place award for an editorial she had written last semester.
“I’m not surprised that the paper won, but I was surprised that I won something again,” Redder said. “Grateful, but surprised.”
Collegian editor-in-chief Oakford won third place in an on-site competition for her written TV news coverage of a staged car fire.
“I thought it was a good chance to see who all is out there in terms of student publications,” Oakford said of the conference. “I am proud to be a part of a paper that strives to put out a good publication, not just to get it published.”
