Leader Staff Brings Home First

The 2025-2026 Leader editorial board poses for a photo with awards won at the 2026 ICPA conference Feb 21. (Ian Murphy)

The Leader took home 12 awards during the 2026 Illinois College Press Association (ICPA) conference, competing against mid-size newspapers at other universities such as Columbia College of Chicago and Bradley University, on the weekend of Feb. 20.

Previously, The Leader had competed in the “small schools” division, where it had regularly earned a dozen or more awards. This year, the organization joined the smaller, but more competitive, “mid-sized schools” category.

In the division, Leader editor-in-chief Ian Murphy and former staff writer Isabella Gonzalez both took home first place in In-Depth Reporting for stories written in Fall 2025. Vanesa Arenas-Rubio, former head graphics editor, won the division for Front Page Layout for her work throughout 2025. Ashley Vanderhoff received third place for In-Depth Reporting.

The Leader also received numerous honorable mentions. Sarah Matzkin won The Leader’s first award in the Podcast-Entertainment category for her series, “Wired Differently.”

In 2025, The Leader received an honorable mention for General Excellence in the web category for quality web design and readability. This year, the organization won third place for General Excellence in both the web and print categories.

In addition to participation in the final awards ceremony, staffers from The Leader were able to attend various workshops during the weekend, a critique and feedback session of a selected recent issue, and the Ron Wiginton Memorial Photo Contest.

Named after late former Leader advisor Ron Wiginton, editor-in-chief Murphy and Star Herring participated in the contest, marking the first Leader staffers to participate in multiple years. Murphy and Herring were able to participate in a brief feedback session for their photos the morning after the contest.

Below is a full list of The Leader’s awards from the 2026 conference:

Open Category (All Schools):

Honorable Mention — Critical Review: Film — Ian Murphy

Honorable Mention — Podcast: Entertainment & Culture — Sarah Matzkin

Divisional Categories (Mid-Sized Schools):

1st place — Front Page Layout — Vanesa Arenas-Rubio

1st Place — In-Depth Reporting — Ian Murphy, Isabella Gonzalez

3rd Place — General Excellence: Print — The Leader Staff

3rd Place — General Excellence: Web — The Leader Staff

3rd Place — In-Depth Reporting — Ashley Vanderhoff

Honorable Mention — Column — Ashley Vanderhoff

Honorable Mention — Column — Elle Mavros

Honorable Mention — Editorial — The Leader Staff

Honorable Mention — Feature Story — Ashley Vanderhoff

Honorable Mention — Video Storytelling — Ian Murphy