News

The Alestle won 11 awards and honors at the recent Illinois College Press Association’s (ICPA) Convention and Awards. The publication is still in the ranking of top student news organizations in the state, despite moving into a more competitive division. 

The state college media organization reorganized its contest divisions this year to better reflect the smaller number of daily student newspapers. Some of the extremely large programs still publish, but not as frequently. In the reorganization based on enrollment numbers reported to the Illinois Board of Higher Education, SIUE was moved into the top competitive category with those news organizations that are still or used to be daily newspapers, including Northwestern University, DePaul University, Loyola University Chicago, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Illinois State University and Northern Illinois University. 

“We were up against some tough competition,” said Alestle Editor-in-Chief Emily Sterzinger. “So, I’m really proud of what we’ve accomplished in the last year, and the awards we won.” 

In its new division, The Alestle received honorable mention in General Excellence for its print edition, with the top three being The Northern Star, The Loyola Phoenix and The Depaulia. 

“When I knew the divisions were changing, I was a little nervous but believed in The Alestle staff’s ability to hold its own in a much tougher division,” said Student Publications Program Director Tammy Merrett. “I am so happy with the results and extremely proud of the staff members who never stopped working hard to continuously improve and raise the bar for themselves in 2022.” 

The Alestle won three first place awards. Two were in the open division in which all universities and colleges compete. There were 21 competing schools this year. The staff also won first place for Front Page Layout. 

Former Editor-in-Chief Alex Aultman won first place in the open division’s Headline Writing category for the headline, “White tears were prioritized over Black pain,” describing a story about the handling of a racist and homophobic hazing incident on campus in 2021. 

Managing Editor Gabe Brady and former Sports Editor Brandon Wells won first place in the large school division’s new Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Coverage category. 

“We don’t do it for the awards,” said Managing Editor Gabe Brady. “I haven’t won any ICPA awards specifically in my name before. So, it’s nice on my way out, that my work is recognized.” Brady is scheduled to graduate in May. 

Many of the staff’s collaborative efforts in 2022 were recognized. 

• Won second place in the large school Opinion Pages category
• Won third place in the Entertainment Supplement category for Spring 2022 Metro East Eats: Donut edition
• Won honorable mention in Feature Page Design for Metro East Eats: Soup edition. The regular feature often does well in the entertainment supplement and design categories in state and national competitions.
• Received honorable mention in the large school division’s Entertainment and Culture Podcast category

Clair Sollenberger, former Alestle photographer, captured third place in General News Photo in the large school division for a photo of campus protests about racial inequity. 

Kirsten O’Loughlin, Alestle graduate assistant graphics manager, received honorable mention for Best Print Ad. 

Alestle Photographer Chloe Wolfe was recognized with an honorable mention in the convention’s photo competition – Shoot Chicago – where photographers are given a theme and go out into the streets of Chicago to capture images to reflect the theme. This marks the first time the work of Alestle students was recognized in the photography competition. 

The Alestle competed in 32 categories against six of the largest student news organizations in the state. Almost 900 entries in the competition were judged for excellence by working journalists across the country. 

Photo:
(L-R): Sports Editor Bruce Darnell, Photographer Chloe Wolfe, Managing Editor Gabe Brady, Editor-in-Chief Emily Sterzinger, Illustrator Victor Weltzin, Reporter Dylan Hembrough, Multimedia Editor Damian Morris and Program Director Tammy Merrett.