MONMOUTH, Ill. — For the fourth year in a row, members of the editorial
staff of Monmouth College’s student newspaper, The Courier, have received
a number of prestigious awards from the Illinois College Press Association
(ICPA).
Senior Megan Horst of Chicago, the former editor-in-chief of the
newspaper, and junior Rebecca Danaher of Palos Heights, the former news
editor, received first place in the editorial writing division for an
editorial they co-authored last fall on the City of Monmouth’s decision to
require students to purchase vehicle stickers.
Junior sports editor Matt Troha of Joliet received a second-place award
for a comprehensive preview he wrote last fall on the Monmouth-Knox
football game and the rivalry surrounding the Bronze Turkey. Both awards
were for non-daily college newspapers throughout Illinois.
The awards, presented earlier this month at a luncheon banquet during
the annual convention of the ICPA in Chicago, were part of the 2002 Awards
for Excellence in Illinois College Newspapers competition. The competition
is sponsored by The Chicago Tribune and the ICPA, which is made up of
colleges and universities throughout Illinois. The organization was
founded to stimulate greater interest and development in journalism and to
raise the standards of journalism among its member institutions.
The MC student newspaper also received honorable mention awards from
the ICPA, including two in the division of news stories. The first went to
Horst for a story she wrote about the mechanical difficulties of the
dishwasher in the Stockdale Center, and the other went to Danaher for a
piece she authored on the resignation of former vice president for
admission, Marybeth Kemp.
Horst, Danaher, and sophomore copy/layout editor Zach Muhrer of Chicago
received another honorable mention award for a front page layout. Horst,
Danaher and Tom Scott, a 2002 graduate from West Burlington, Iowa,
received an honorable mention for a collaborative feature page design on
the Crimson Masque production of “A Respectable Wedding.”
Also in the area of design, Troha and Muhrer received an honorable
mention honor for a sports page design that included a piece on the
college’s football rivalry with Knox College.
Finally, current editor-in-chief Dan Bredfield, a junior from Mahomet,
and Kimberly Karau, a freshman staff writer from Kewanee, received an
honorable mention honor for a headline they co-authored on the TNT Center.
