The Bay Window, Muskegon Community College’s student newspaper, has won an unprecedented 16 awards in the annual statewide competition sponsored by the Michigan Community College Press Association (MCCPA).
The MCC students won eight firsts, five seconds, and three honorable mentions in competition with nine other community colleges in the state.
Receiving first places were:
- Thomas Neff: News, “Reactions to the ban on flavored cigarettes vary”
- Stephanie Kennert, First Amendment Reporting, “What is impeachment all about?”
- Jeremy Wahr, Humor Column, “Goodbye, old friend; thanks and rest well”
- Raven Lockard, Sports Column, “Did the custom Nike running shoes just do it?”
- Kara Gerard, Front Page Design (December issue)
- Serena Fairbrother (2), Original Cartoon – Editorial, “The lesser of three evils?” and Original Comic – Entertainment, “Jaye and Hawk”
- The Bay Window staff, General Excellence – Division II
Earning second places were:
- Wahr (3), In-Depth Reporting, two articles on MCC enrollment changes; Serious Column, “What’s the point of morals if we don’t act on them?”; and Editorial, “Textbook access codes an unnecessary expense
- Neff, Sports News, “Focused and battle-tested, Jayhawks eye nationals” (volleyball team)
- Gerard, Informational Graphic (flu shots)
Honorable mentions went awarded to:
- Neff, Editorial, “FARM Project could mean great things for MCC”
- Dalton Klenk, Serious Column, “Lakeshore Fitness Center: Nothing but a money pit”
- Amy Huber, Humorous Column, “Frodo, my timeshare dog, causes havoc”
“We always do well in this competition,” said Sue Martens, The Bay Window advisor. “Despite being one of the smallest schools in the association, we always win a fistful of awards and in the most competitive categories. The level of talent here continues to impress and amaze me.”
Other community colleges in the competition include Grand Rapids CC, Lansing CC, Washtenaw CC, Henry Ford College, Delta College, Schoolcraft College, Monroe County CC, and Northwestern Michigan College.
Kennert, who has been editor and news editor of The Bay Window for the past two years, will major in journalism at Central Michigan University in the fall. Neff, news editor in 2019-2020, is majoring in media studies at the University of Michigan.
Judges for the contest included professional journalists and media personnel from MLive, The Detroit Free Press, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Cadillac News, WNEM TV-5, Hearst Michigan, The Detroit Lions, and CMU.
For more information, contact Sue Martens at martenss@muskegoncc.edu.