Vanguard named best college paper in Division II

Paper honored with 23 awards for print, online content

October 9, 2006 —

The Michigan Press Association recently named the Valley Vanguard the best college newspaper in Division II competition.

The Vanguard took home a total of 23 awards including nine first-place finishes in categories ranging from news and sports stories to design and photography. The competition considered work from the 2005-2006 school year.

"I thought we improved as a paper last year," said Andy Hoag, editor-in-chief for last year's paper. "I'm glad the MPA felt the same way."

Hoag, this year's sports editor, won two first-place awards and two second-place awards in the competition.

He earned a first-place award in the sports news category for a football story on last year's loss to Grand Valley and shared a first-place award in the non-deadline category with reporter Paul White on their story investigating Kochville Township's rezoning issues.

Last year's news editor and current editor-in-chief, Jason Wolverton, took home a first-place award for a feature story he wrote on the Cardinal Formula Race Team. Wolverton also earned two second-place awards and an honorable mention.

"This is a great accomplishment for this paper," Wolverton said. "Hopefully it can lend further credibility and provide the paper with momentum for years to come."

Another first-place award went to Design Editor and Web Master Brandon Kish.

Kish won a first-place award for an SVSU football photo and a second-place award for a feature photo taken at last year's Dashboard Confessional concert.

Ashley Hart also took home a first-place award in photography, winning in the news photo category for a shot taken during the announcement of last year's homecoming king and queen.

Rounding out the first-place award winners was Jason Schneider. The A & E editor won for a review he wrote about comic Steven Wright's performance at a show at the Temple Theatre last spring.

In addition to individual awards, the Vanguard also won several others as a whole.

The paper captured first-place awards in overall newspaper design and news page design categories with second place finishes for sports page and feature page design.

The paper also swept the news special section category, winning first place for a piece on campus emergency stations, second place for a piece on health care, and third place for a piece on the inflating cost of college textbooks.

The paper also won second place for overall online newspaper.

The paper's 23 awards is an increase from the 15 it captured last year and came during a year when the paper transitioned from a bi-weekly paper to a weekly publication.

"Not only did the staff increase the frequency of the publication last year but the quality of the publication as well," said former faculty advisor Brian Abbott. "This award is a reflection of their hard work and effort, and I congratulate them."

The Vanguard will be awarded a plaque at the 2007 MPA Winter Convention, Feb. 2-3, at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel in Grand Rapids.