LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University’s student newspaper, the Rambler, was a big winner in the 2010 Kentucky Intercollegiate Press Association awards competition. Current and former Rambler staffers picked up 12 first-place awards as well as several second- and third-place honors at the KIPA annual conference held at Transylvania.
The yearly competition for two- and four-year campus newspapers features a variety of categories designed to showcase the talent of student journalists throughout the state. Rambler writers, photographers and page designers competed in the division for schools with fewer than 5,000 students.
“I could not be more proud of the staffers who volunteer their time and energy every week to give their fellow students a voice on Transylvania’s campus,” said Terri McLean, student media adviser. “Unlike many of the other schools in the state, Transylvania does not have a journalism degree program. So they learn by doing. It’s just amazing to me how well they’ve done.”
Among the top winners was sophomore Erin Brock, Rambler design editor. She took first place honors in the overall newspaper layout and front page layout categories. Senior Jessica Horohov, the Rambler’s etcetera editor, also received first-place for feature page layout.
Rambler photographers racked up numerous awards, including former photo editor Katelynn Ralston who received first place for photo essay and original illustration and second place in the photo essay and news photo categories. Current photo editor H.B. Elam, a junior, placed first in the news photo category, while junior photographer Jodi Brashear placed first for feature photo. First-year Jessica Obi received third place for sports photo.
In the writing competition, arts and entertainment editor Rachel Williams, a sophomore, won first place in the review category, junior Shannon Baldo placed first for personality profile and junior Jonathan Kelly took first-place honors in editorial writing. Chelsey Spencer, a 2009 graduate, placed second in analyses and special reports, junior sports editor Carlos Melgar placed third in the sports news story category, 2009 graduate Andrew Owen received third for sports game story and current editor-in-chief Grace Chambers placed third in the news story category.
In the copy editing contest held during the conference, chief copy editor John Johnson, a sophomore, placed first and received $25.
“This is the second time since I’ve been on the Rambler staff that we’ve entered the KIPA competition, and we’ve come a long way since the first year when we won five awards,” said Chambers, who will soon finish her tenure as editor-in-chief. “Everyone on the staff works so hard to make the Rambler a relevant and important part of the Transy experience.”