The University Press staff earned 45 awards in competition of the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association for work published during 2017. The UP was awarded Overall Excellence among non-daily newspapers and UPbeat, the publication’s semesterly magazine, was awarded Overall Excellence magazine.

The UP, the student newspaper of Lamar University, also earned Best-in-Show honors in on-site competition at the organization’s annual convention, held March 22-24, in Dallas. 

Individual awards included 14 first-place honors and were spread among 18 newspaper staffers.

“I take pride in being apart of a diverse and talented staff,” editor Shelby Strickland said.“We walked away with nearly double the awards we have in previous years, all between 18 staff members. It takes all of us to not only put together our weekly papers and win awards, but to keep each other motivated and encouraged.”

Trevier Gonzalez for first place  for Breaking News Multimedia Story with his coverage of the travel ban protests in Houston, which was published on the UP website. Current editor Shelby Strickland placed first in the Magazine Cover Design category for fall’s UPbeat, as well as for Opinion/Editorial Page Design.

Cassandra Jenkins earned first and third place in the Sports Page Design category, as well as winning a Buckley Scholarship. 

Fall editor Caitlin McAlister earned second place for In-Depth Reporting for her story on Title IX, as well as for Inside News Page Design. Staffer Karisa Norfleet placed second in the Sports Game Story category. Strickland won second place in the General Column and Feature Page Design categories, and Gonzalez placed second for Magazine Cover Design. Spring 2017 editor Haley Bruyn picked up a second-place award for Cover Newspaper Design.   

The UP advertising staff earned three first place awards. Taylor Phillips won the Advertising Campaign category as well as placing first and second in the Ad Design Interactive category. Erika Leggett placed first in the Ad Design Static category.

UP staffers swept the Magazine Story Package category with Strickland placing first, Bruyn second and Tim Collins and Noah Dawlearn placing third.

Dawlearn featured in a strong UP showing in the photography categories, placing first in Breaking News. Hannah LeTulle placed first in the Environmental Portrait category, with Keiosha Addison earning second place and Jenkins third in the same category. Gonzalez earned first place and honorable mention in the Photo Story category, McAlister, LeTulle, Dawlearn and Shane Proctor earning second place in the same category, with Proctor also placing third in the Feature Photo category.

In Sports Photography, Matt Beadle placed first in Sports Feature Photo, with Dawlearn in seco9nd place. Beadle placed third in Sports Action Photo with Morgan Collier earning an honorable mention.

In graphics, Cormac Kelly placed first in the Editorial Cartoon category and Olivia Malick placed first for Illustration. Strickland placed third and McAlister earned honorable mention in the Static Information Graphic category.

The UP staff earned second and third place awards in the Special Edition Design Print category for the Week-of Welcome and Orientation issues respectively.

Honorable mention was awarded to Elisabeth Tatum for Breaking News. Strickland and Gonzalez each won honorable mention in the Headline category, and Strickland added honorable mention in the Op/Ed to add to her first place in that category.

“To win this number of awards speaks to the quality of the work the students produce, and the hard work they put in,” Andy Coughlan, LU director of student publications, said. “The UP aims to reproduce a professional work environment where students can get hands-on experience that prepares them for a career — whether that is in print news, broadcast, public relations, advertising or any media. I think these awards indicate that that sort of experiential learning pays off.”

More than 500 students and advisers from 49 schools across Texas attended this year’s conference. TIPA, established in 1909, encompasses two- and four-year schools across the state, and is the oldest and largest state-based collegiate press association in the nation. It presents $4,000 in scholarships annually, as well as hosting competitions and a convention.