The Collegiate brings home first place for general excellence from MCCPA

By Collegiate Staff

The Collegiate staff won top honors at the Michigan Community College Press Association Conference at Central Michigan University on April 18.

The Grand Rapids Community College student newspaper won 14 state-wide first place awards including a first place tie for general excellence with Washtenaw Community College’s student newspaper The Voice. The Collegiate won an additional 11 awards for a total of 25.

Representatives from the newspaper’s staff traveled to CMU to attend the conference and listen to discussions led by media professionals before the awards ceremony.

“I’m really pleased with the number of first place awards The Collegiate won this year,” said Collegiate Adviser Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood. “My students put in many hours outside of class to make this newspaper a success and it’s great to see their efforts recognized. It’s very gratifying to watch them excel despite our limited resources.”

Sean P. Mulhall, Collegiate Editor-in-Chief, echoed Ackerman-Haywood’s enthusiasm.

“After almost an entire year, the hard work has payed off,” Mulhall said. “When I took over in May, I made it my goal to help this paper reach it’s full potential. I could not have done it alone. Without my fellow editors and staff it would not have been possible. Ms. Ackerman-Haywood deserves a lot of credit for the dedication and long hours sacrificed. Walking up to that podium to receive the General Excellence award was one of the happiest moments of my life and I’ll never forget it.”

The Collegiate Staff –

1^st place for General Excellence

1^st place for Online Newspaper

1^st place for Overall Newspaper Design

3^rd place for Editorial from the September print edition, Decreasing access to campus makes studies difficult for students

Sean P. Mulhall, Editor-in-Chief –

1^st place for First Amendment Reporting, First Amendment Concerns Raised at GRCC: Administration claims protocol is not college policy but ‘working document’

Honorable Mention for Feature Story, Clean Slate: How 1,197 days in prison led me back to GRCC

Honorable Mention for Student Journalist of the Year

Jacquelyn Zeman, Co-Editor/Chief Web Editor –

1st place for Blog, Adventures in Morocco

3^rd place for Feature Story, With these hands I can do anything

Zachary Watkins, Sports Editor –

2^nd place for Sports Column, Nat’l. Labor Board opens pandora’s box with recent ruling

Honorable Mention for Sports Feature, ‘Dumb Athlete:’ GRCC’s Retention Coordinator of Retention writes memoir

Jonathan D. Lopez, Photo Editor –

1^st place for News Photo, MLK Day Feature Photo

1^st Place for Video and Online Production, Five Tips for Parking on GRCC’s campus

3^rd place for Photo Essay, ArtPrize 2014

Honorable Mention for Informational Graphic/Illustration, Cheap Thrills Magazine Cover

Chris Powers, Special Projects Editor –

1^st place for Inside Page Design, Tinder: Long term love or a one night stand?

1^st place for Informational Graphic/Design, World Wide Web turns 25

1^st place for Editorial Cartoon, March 2014 print edition

2^nd place for Inside Page Design, The Social Networking Effect

John Rothwell, Photography Lead –

1^st place for Sports Feature Photo, Raiders advance to NJCAA National Tournament 

2^nd place for Sports News Photo, GRCC 95, Jackson College 77: Second half-changes fuel Raiders

Clayton Cummins, 2013-2014 Multimedia Editor –

1^st place for Multimedia Reporting, April Fools Prank at Grand Rapids college goes viral (UPDATE)

Corey Tucker, Collegiate Staff –

3^rd place for Sports Feature, Cameron Burhannon’s Academic Rebound

 Shelby Corliss, 2013-2014 A&E/Features Editor –

1^st place for Humor Column, Dear Shelby: Be considerate when posting about your relationship online

 Ray Potts, Summer 2014 A&E/Features Editor –

2^nd place for Serious Column, Stay out of Iraq (again)

Rachael Ocampo, Former Collegiate Reporter –

3^rd place for Humor Column, Chronically Single: One writer’s take on it’s bittersweet irony

Teagan Burns, Former Collegiate Cartoonist

1^st place for Editorial Cartoon, March 2014 print edition

To view all awards from the MCCPA, see list here.