The Collegian receives two dozen statewide collegiate journalism awards
- Gimena Baez Baez, Culture Editor
- 26 minutes ago
- 3 min read
This spring, Willamette University’s independent student publication nearly doubled the number of ONPA awards it received compared to last year.
This year, Willamette University’s independent student newspaper, The Collegian, received a record-breaking 10 awards from the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association (ONPA) for the newspaper’s work in 2025, surpassing the six awards received in 2024.
In addition to the ONPA awards, The Collegian submitted work from the past school year to the Pacific Northwest Association of Journalism Educators (PNAJE) awards. The newspaper received 10 awards and four honorable mentions for work produced between last May and May of 2026, judged among other four-year institutions.
Every year, ONPA invites all major newspaper publications from Oregon colleges to come together, network and learn from experts. On May 15, a group of Collegian editors and executive members attended the ONPA collegiate awards ceremony to celebrate excellence among collegiate newspapers.
ONPA awards
William Weeks (’26) received first place in headline writing for his article “Lacrosse out-Foxed again despite coaches’ polling; injuries and staff departure potential factors.”
For best series, Skeet Star (’26) and Aubrey Lee (’29) won third place for their coverage of the prospective club, Turning Point USA.
Violeta Basenko (’28) received third place for best feature story for “Leadership, community and growth: Inside Willamette’s Greek Life.”
Teresa Butzerin’s (’29) “Opinion: Higher education needs to catch up with AI, not run from it” won second place in the editorial category.
Leslie Gomez (’29) won second place in best sports coverage for their article “‘His story is unprecedented’: Former coach reflects on Cedric Coward’s journey from WU Bearcat to Memphis Grizzly.”
Maisy Clunies-Ross (’28) received first and second place for her articles “Opinion: Why Taylor Swift’s most recent album fell flat” and “Opinion: Bloom Bloom Wow: Finding hope in a climate doom comedy,” respectively.
Patricia Krepel (’28) took third place in the photography category for “Photojournalism: Renew Sustainable Flea Market.”
Wes Mowry-Silverman’s (’28) Go Birds comic took third in the cartooning category.
And last, but certainly not least, The Collegian staff received third place for best website.
PNAJE awards
Alexander Berry (’29) received honorable mention in the general news category for their piece “Federal cuts to college aid programs could challenge Chemeketa to Willamette transfer pathway.”
The staff was awarded an honorable mention in the comprehensive coverage category for all pieces about the Willamette-Pacific merger.
First place in the reviews category went to Maisy Clunies-Ross for her article “Opinion: Why Taylor Swift’s most recent album fell flat.” In second place was Gimena Baez Baez’s (’29) “Opinion: Fennell’s Wuthering Heights does Bronte an injustice.”
Keenan Yoshizawa took second place in the news photo category for his work “West Salem resident Ryan Davis, dressed in a unicorn costume, holds an American flag at the No Kings rally.” Third place in the portrait category was awarded to Patricia Krepel’s photo “Janessa Flores (’26) and her dog Nacho.” Alan Cohen won second place in the photo essay category for her piece “Portland ICE protest.”
Three Collegian staff members received awards for photo illustration. In second place came Adrien Axtell’s (’28) piece “The Thinker,” Addie Martin’s (’28) “Blitz and Boxer” received third, and an honorable mention went to “Painted Salmon” by Martin.
The Collegian’s recent multimedia push led to multiple awards.
Sirena Coulter-Kress (’28) and Skeet Starr won second place for their work “New career center tour” on Instagram. Amelia Hare (’28), Robin Linares and Bjorn Domst (’26) were awarded an honorable mention for their piece “ASWU endowment explainer.” In the social media post category, Alma Snortum-Phelps (’27) won first place for her post “Layout follow along.” Starr and Domst also earned third place for their video “The Collegian is Back.”