The Courier, Monmouth College’s student newspaper, won 10 awards at the Illinois College Press Association’s annual convention and awards ceremony in Chicago, according to a community announcement.
The awards included three first-place honors, the most the paper has won in a single year since Chris Goble began advising it, according to the announcement. Monmouth is classified in the division for schools with an enrollment under 2,300 students.
“We had a fantastic year,” said Chris Goble, The Courier’s adviser. “This is the most total awards won in one year and the most first-place awards for The Courier, as far as I can tell. I know it’s at least true since I began advising the paper.”
Crew excels in storytelling, design
Seamus O’Sullivan of Chicago was the only individual winner for a sports game story. Pat Curry of Chicago, Nayeli Perez of Galesburg and Ryan Phillips won first place in the video storytelling category for their coverage of Monmouth’s NCAA playoff game in Minnesota last November, according to the announcement.
The Courier also won first place for feature page design, based on a collection of front-page stories.
The newspaper placed third in the general excellence category.
Phillips also took third place in sports page design. Several other award winners, including Izzy Gimm, have already graduated. Gimm placed second for a photo essay titled “Decking Halls at Grandma’s.” Gimm and another graduate, Karli Strom, placed fourth in headline writing, and Strom earned a solo fourth in feature page design.
Editor celebrates wins
Dawsyn Wilson of Portland, Oregon, the current editor of the newspaper, placed fourth in headline writing. She said she was thrilled by the excellent results for The Courier.
“Our time at the conference was great, especially for the seniors. We’ve been on staff together for a few years now, so to see all our work pay off through these awards meant so much more,” said Wilson. “This is my third year going to the ICPA conference, but it’s my first as the editor in chief. I find great pride at our staff’s individual and group success, knowing exactly how much work everyone has put in.”
Wilson, Strom and Riley King of Aledo shared a fourth-place award for diversity, equity and inclusion coverage.
This story was created by reporter Nida Tazeen, NTazeen@usatodayco.com , with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at cm.usatoday.com/ethical-conduct.
This article originally appeared on Galesburg Register-Mail: Monmouth’s Courier earns record 10 awards at 2026 ICPA
Reporting by Nida Tazeen, Reporter Assisted by AI / Galesburg Register-Mail
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