Columbia College Chicago’s student-run media outlet, The Columbia Chronicle, received 34 awards at the Illinois College Press Association (ICPA) Awards, including nine first-place honors and the sweepstakes title for the mid-sized school division. The sweepstakes award is given to the student newspaper that earns the highest number of points from awards in their division. This marks the largest number of awards the Chronicle has earned in a single year.
Jackie Spinner, faculty advisor for the Chronicle and professor in the School of Communication and Culture, said, “As a media arts college, Columbia prepares students to tell stories across formats. The ‘Chronicle’ embodies that mission. This recognition highlights the depth of our reporting, the strength of our visuals and the collaborative newsroom environment our students have built.”
Students were recognized for work in newswriting, photojournalism, video and podcast storytelling and production, advertising, as well as disciplines such as journalism, communication, film and television, audio arts, illustration, creative writing, marketing, photography, photojournalism, arts management and ASL-English interpretation.
Ames Hawkins, interim director of the School of Communication and Culture at Columbia College Chicago stated: “This recognition is meaningful not just because it’s an affirmation of our top-notch journalism program, but because it shows that amazing work can be created when there’s collaboration across disciplines.”
Photojournalists from Columbia performed notably well this year by winning nearly every major award in their category. Spinner attributed this success to Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist John H. White who teaches as an adjunct professor at Columbia. Spinner commented: “He teaches students to see with empathy and to report visually with integrity. The photojournalism honors are a testament to students applying those lessons in their work at the ‘Chronicle.’”
The awards recognized content published during Spring 2025 through Fall 2025 semesters under editors Sydney Richardson (Spring), Kate Julianne Larroder (Summer), and Vivian Richey (Fall). Categories where first-place awards were won include General Excellence – Print for the Fall 2025 Halloween Issue; Entertainment Supplement for August 2025 Back-to-school Issue; News Story; Photo Essay; General News Photo; Feature Photo; Video Storytelling; Column; and Best Digital Ad.
Second-place recognitions included General Excellence – Web for The Columbia Chronicle website; Front Page Layout; Feature Page Design; News Story; Feature Photo; Newsletter; Headline Writing; Sports Column; Podcast – News; and Podcast – Entertainment.
Third- and fourth-place awards covered categories such as Photo Essay, General News Photo, Video Storytelling, Editorial Cartooning, Feature Page Design, Opinion Pages, Sports Page Design, Diversity Equity & Inclusion Coverage, Sports News Story, Sports Photo and Editorials.
Spinner highlighted that visuals are treated as reporting within The Chronicle: “The strength of our photojournalism awards speaks to something fundamental about the ‘Chronicle.’ We treat visuals as reporting.”
For more details on individual winners or specific submissions recognized by ICPA this year or previous years visit .
