With its very first issue, the Collegian Magazine earned a prestigious honor, taking home a Pacemaker Award for excellence in student journalism from the Associated Collegiate Press (ACP).
The glossy magazine started by Gabe Brison-Trezise ’16 and Henri Gendreau ’16, co-editors-in-chief, was one of nine college magazines to win the award out of about 100 entries.
Brison-Trezise, a political science major from Thetford, Vermont, said the award validated the work they put into the magazine last year. “Working on the Collegian and journalism in general can be a rather thankless job. To earn the recognition of this established, respected organization was pretty nice.”
Brison-Trezise and Gendreau, who this year are editors-in-chief of the Collegian newspaper, entered the first issue of the magazine that came out in November 2014. It featured stories on noted architect Graham Gund ’63 H’81, as well as a photo essay on hair and a story about avid crossword puzzlers.
Kirsten Chang, contest and critique coordinator for ACP, said the organization gives out Pacemaker awards for newspapers, online and yearbook, in addition to magazine entries. “We are looking at overall excellence of content, design, writing and editing, and photography,” she said. Entries are judged by media professionals with years of expertise.
The Collegian Magazine comes out once a semester. Brison-Trezise and Gendreau, an English major from Bainbridge Island, Washington, now work in more of a consulting role for the magazine.
“It would be great if we could win some more hardware next year,” Brison-Trezise said. “We never do our work with the aim or expectation of winning any awards. It’s just icing on the cake.”