News Center

March 11, 2015 – The Campus, the student newspaper at Allegheny College, won two first-place awards and three honorable mentions in the four-year college category from the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association.

Sam Stephenson, co-editor-in-chief of The Campus, and photo editor Meghan Hayman won a first-place Student Keystone Press Award in the category of general news. The Campus staff also won a first-place award for layout and design on “The Story Next Door,” a special edition of The Campus that published student work from a conference that explored community journalism in action.

Honorable mentions were awarded to Amasa Smith, in the category of feature photos; Meghan Hayman, in the category of news photos; and Elliott Bartels, Sam Stephenson and Amanda Spadaro, for The Campus’ website.

“It is an understatement to say we were really excited to hear that we won five Keystone Awards,” said Stephenson. “I was sitting in the newsroom with my co-chief, Amanda Spadaro, when she started screaming that we had won awards. After seeing how many we won, including two first place awards, I was just incredibly proud of the staff. But I think we also see it as a challenge. Five awards was incredible and unexpected, but we can always do better, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

Allegheny created a new Journalism in the Public Interest (JPI) minor in 2013 that helps to prepare students for two paths into the “news”: into the profession of journalism, and into the lifelong habit of navigating the news, as readers and watchers, in a nuanced, civically responsible way.

Ben Slote is chair of the Journalism in the Public Interest Committee at Allegheny College.

“The awards are wonderful news and a true reflection of the hard and good work our journalism students put in on the paper,” Slote said. “The large number of awards, for a school (and a newspaper staff) of our size, also says something about the vitality of journalism at Allegheny altogether. What does having a Journalism in the Public Interest program at Allegheny mean? Well, among other things, it means this – students committed to putting out the news every week, responsibly, carefully, deftly, not for a grade or for work study wages, but because someone needs to do it.”

One of the hallmarks of the JPI program at Allegheny College is an annual journalism conference, now in its third year. This year’s conference, “Honoring Ida: Celebrating the Legacies of Ida Tarbell and Ida B. Wells-Barnett,” brought together students and experts on March 6-7 to honor the work of these two investigative journalists and to report in Meadville on local women who make a difference in their community. Tarbell graduated from Allegheny College in 1880 and was a member of The Campus’ staff during her years as a student. The Campus was first published at Allegheny College in 1876.

One of the organizers of the conference is Cheryl Hatch, visiting professor of journalism in the public interest, who also serves as faculty adviser to The Campus.

“The Campus newsroom is a phenomenal learning environment,” Hatch said. “Every year we choose a theme, and this year we chose Legacy and Pride: pride in our work and in ourselves, and legacy — that we make it better than it was before. And the students have embraced that. I’m just beyond proud of the way they do journalism and how they conduct themselves.”

The Student Keystone Press Awards recognize high school and college journalism that provides relevance, integrity and initiative in serving readers. The awards will be presented at the Student Keystone Press Awards Luncheon on April 1 in Hershey.