Every team has a time in their “season” where their work is put to the test. Whether it’s the playoffs of the football season, the Academy Awards for a film, or a talent show at the age of five, competitors of all types and ages are given the chance and challenge to shine at some point in their career. Monmouth College’s Courier staff was given that chance this past weekend as they traveled to Chicago to the ICPA (Illinois College Press Association) conference and awards ceremony.

The ICPA is an association that hosts college newspapers across Illinois, including colleges ranging in size from the University of Illinois to smaller schools like Monmouth College. The conference took place from Friday, Feb. 22 to Saturday, Feb. 23, as speakers and panels focused on building the college newspapers across Illinois. The awards ceremony took place on Saturday afternoon.

Members of the Monmouth College Courier editorial staff--Ian Van Anden (’08), Dustin Looney (’09), Kyle Christensen (’09), Amanda Bloomer (’08), Lucas Pauley (’09), Ryne Tate (’09) and Abby McClaughlin (’08)--left early afternoon on Friday and spent the afternoon in the city. They were able to go to a very good Thai restaurant called Star of Siam, which they all raved about, giving the credit to Looney, as he knew the owner.

On Saturday morning, the staff attended a discussion on how to cover community news led by two former ICPA members and current journalists in the professional field. Van Anden, the Editor-in-Chief, said the discussion was very interesting and relatable because the speakers were former members of ICPA.

Later that day, the staff attended the awards ceremony, in hopes of receiving some well-deserved recognition. Being one of the smallest staffs at the conference and submitting between 25 and 30 categories from the year of 2007 (anything from the ’07 spring semester issues to the December 7th issue, published in Fall ‘07), the staff went to the ceremony hoping for the best.

Although they walked away with an honorable mention for sports page design by Looney and Van Anden, they all agreed that their winnings did not reflect the hard work that the staff has put into the paper this year.

Looney said this of the weekend’s results: “Although we hoped to win more than one award as a staff, it was still a fun and successful weekend. We know that we are working hard, improving as a staff and elevating the Courier to a respectable publication, so we don’t need awards to make us feel good about our effort.”

Van Anden agreed, saying, “We were all definitely deflated in the fact that we didn’t gain recognition for the steps we’ve made. I’m really proud of what the staff has done over the year. We’ve taken a much criticized paper and changed it into something very respectable. Dustin, Kyle, Amanda, Abby, Lucas, Luke, Vanessa, Tate, Pamela and all of the contributing writers have done an excellent job all year. Our weekend is not a reflection of their work.”

And with that, the Courier will definitely be going back next year with higher hopes that their hard work will be recognized. Van Anden admitted that this year, “We bonded closer as a staff, and we got to hang out and talk. This was definitely the best one of all four years I’ve gone to this.”

So, as this year’s Courier has only a few issues left, and Van Anden wraps up his job as Editor and Chief, he says, “We have a very young staff but we have capable people that are young and fantastic. I am excited to see what the Courier can win in the future.”

Return to Home -- Return to Features