This photo by Kiersten Fuhr of Moline, Illinois, from a rehearsal of the theatre department's production of "Peter Pan" earned second place at the Illinois College Press Association award ceremony
MONMOUTH, ILLINOIS (February 27, 2024) — After spending most of the school year writing about news on campus, Monmouth College's student newspaper made some news of its own.
Earlier this month, The Courier earned an award for general excellence at the Illinois College Press Association's annual ceremony in Chicago.
The Courier took third place in the small-schools division, open to colleges and universities with an enrollment of less than 3,000 students.
Six staff members of The Courier also received recognition at the ICPA ceremony, including second-place awards for Elena Fry-Hernandez ('26) of East Moline, Illinois, in the Podcast-Entertainment and Culture category, and Kiersten Fuhr ('25) of Moline, Illinois, for a feature photo.
Sanaia Jenkins ('24) of University Park, Illinois, received third place for a general news photo.
Rounding out Monmouth's recognized journalists were three students who received a total of four honorable mentions: Lydia Perez ('24) of Galesburg, Illinois, in sports page design and sports news story; Nayeli Perez-Currie ('27), also of Galesburg, for a sports photo; and Mia Martino ('25) of Palatine, Illinois, in feature page design.
Last year, Emilie Cain ('24) of Lake Villa, Illinois, served as the news and opinions editor of The Courier. For the 2023-24 academic year, she's the newspaper's editor in chief.
"I'm very proud of my staff for this accomplishment," said Cain, a communication studies major with minors in journalism and media. "We've been working hard to improve The Courier these past couple years. To hear my staff members' names being called out to receive awards was such a clear indicator that all our hard work has been paying off."
Cain noted that first-year staff members won some of the awards, which is a great sign for the future of the student newspaper.
"I hope that we can continue to make The Courier better for our Monmouth community," she said. "I'm so proud of my staff and the hard work we've put in thus far."
