Student Life, the University’s independent student newspaper, recently received a Pacemaker award for overall excellence in student journalism for 2005 from the American Collegiate Press (ACP).
“The office has been buzzing with news of the award — staffers are definitely proud of what we’ve accomplished,” said Margaret Bauer, editor in chief. “We sent four staff members to the ACP conference in Kansas City Oct. 29-30, and on Saturday, Sarah Kliff, senior news editor, called me from there, very excited to say we’d won the award.
“In general, there’s a feeling that this is something we’ve all contributed to.”
Founded in 1878, Student Life is one of the country’s oldest college newspapers and is the oldest continually run newspaper in St. Louis.
“I think the sentiment around the office is that the award is a fitting tribute to the past year’s hard-hitting news coverage, as well as our continued improvement in a number of areas,” Bauer said. “Much credit goes to my predecessor, Jonathan Greenberger, for pushing us in the direction of stronger news coverage and helping us set our sights high.
“Last year, we definitely started to dig deeper into campus issues — a trend we’re trying to continue with this year’s coverage.”
Student Life became independent of the University in 1999 and is now published by Washington University Student Media Inc. Its board of directors includes former Student Life staff members Jeff Lean, investigative editor at The Washington Post, and Pulitzer Prize-winner Ken Cooper, who most recently served as national editor for The Boston Globe.
Former Student Life staff members also include Michael Isikoff, the Newsweek correspondent who broke the Monica Lewinsky story; cartoonist Mike Peters, winner of the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning and creator of Mother Goose & Grimm; and many other prominent journalists and leaders in other professions.
“I think it’s terrific that the members of Student Life have received some publicity for all the hours and energy that they put into producing the publication three times a week,” said Jill Carnaghi, Ph.D., director of campus life and assistant vice chancellor for students. “Many people on campus don’t realize the deadline constraints they are always under.
“With the increased attention to news coverage and issues affecting campus, Student Life provides a great source for what’s happening in our community.”
For a full list of award winners, go online to studentpress.org/acp/winners/npm05.html.