The Leader Triumphs at ICPA
Last weekend, The Leader traveled to Chicago to attend the Illinois College Press Association Conference and took home 13 awards for their work in the 2024 school year.
In addition to the awards ceremony that served as the culmination of the event, The Leader had the opportunity to attend various panels, receive critiques on past issues, and compete in the Ron Wiginton Chicago Photo Contest, named in honor of their previous staff adviser.
The Leader competed against 26 college publications across the state in the conference’s ‘open’ categories, and 15 publications in the small schools division of the awards, some of which included Millikin University, North Central College, and Augustana College.
The Leader staff received a handful of Honorable Mentions across the conference’s 16 writing categories including opinion, sports, and feature stories–with Editor-in-Chief Lily Morgan taking 3rd place for In-Depth Reporting, and staff writer Seth Padilla also taking a 3rd place accolade for his work in Multimedia Reporting.
Most notably, The Leader’s Photo and Opinions Editor Ian Murphy placed 1st for his Editorial piece ‘EU Budget Leaves Students Feeling in the Dark.’
“I am incredibly appreciative of the award. I didn’t initially attend Elmhurst with the goal of news and opinion writing, but I am very happy to have been given the opportunity to be successful at it,” said Murphy about his win.
The publication was further recognized across the divisional artistic categories, with accolades going to a few of The Leader staffers for their work on photography, design, and multimedia video efforts. In the General Excellence category, the staff was also recognized for their website design.
Head Graphics Editor Vanesa Arenas-Rubio, who took home 3rd place for the design category of Front Page Layout, said she was thrilled to be part of The Leader’s successes this year;
“People throughout my life doubted my skills and future as a graphic designer. Now, I’m so glad to have proven them wrong and to serve as an example for people like me. I couldn’t be prouder of my fellow editors and writers for their contributions.”
Editor-in-Chief, Lily Morgan, says that the publication’s success at competition comes as no surprise to her. “The work our staff has done in the last few semesters has been phenomenal, I’m so proud of everyone’s hard work, and I’m excited to build on this momentum.”
The Leader’s staff advisor, Eric Lutz, is similarly proud of the team, “I am so proud of Lily and the staff. Not only did they have another strong showing at ICPA–they have consistently served the Elmhurst University community this year through their outstanding journalism.”
Below is a full list of The Leader’s 2024 ICPA Awards:
Open category (all schools across the state compete):
Honorable Mention, Rachel Fratt — Graphic Illustration
Divisional category (schools under 3,000 undergrad enrollment):
1st Place, Ian Murphy — Editorial
3rd Place, Lily Morgan — In-Depth Reporting
3rd Place, Seth Padilla – Multimedia Reporting
Honorable Mention, Lily Morgan, Ian Murphy – Editorial
Honorable Mention, Tyler Ptaszkowski – Feature Story
Honorable Mention, Sophia Haraus — Opinion Column
Honorable Mention, Ava Valderrama — Sports News Story
2nd Place, Delaney Murphy – Sports Photo
3rd Place, Vanesa Arenas-Rubio – Front Page Layout
Honorable Mention, Vanesa Arenas-Rubio, Delaney Murphy – Sports Page Design
Honorable Mention, Ian Murphy – General News Photo
Honorable Mention, Leader Staff – General Excellence, Web
