Illinois College Press Association conference

The Courier is just one of many collegiate newspapers across the state of Illinois. All of these publications are joined under one large umbrella – the Illinois College Press Association. Once a school year, we all meet together to celebrate each school’s work, progress, and experiences in college journalism. Big schools and little schools alike come together under one hotel roof during this conference in order to learn from one another and be recognized for their hard work.

Myself, CJ Bonifer and Shyanne Sheehan were able to attend this past weekend’s conference to represent The Courier of Monmouth College. Some of our close rivals like Augustana College, Knox College, and Illinois Wesleyan were present, but so were large schools like the University of Illinois, Southern Illinois University, and Western Illinois University.

It was interesting to be able to see some of their issues throughout the 2019-20 school year and compare it to our own. We were able to brainstorm new ideas for our own publication and also pat ourselves on the back for putting together such a great paper that truly stood out from the rest.

Normally at the end of this conference, there is an awards banquet where the ICPA awards school papers in categories such as photography, graphic design, news headlines, features stories, and more. Unfortunately, the ICPA faulted themselves for getting paperwork confused and none of our submissions for The Courier, as well as a few other schools, were judged for the awards.

While we were unable to bring home any shiny plaques or new resume bullet points, we did get the chance to be exposed to young individuals with the same love for running a college newspaper that we have. The job is long hours and a lot of screentime, but without the college newspaper, there would be no way to document and capture the zeitgeist of campus. We appreciate all of our readers – students, faculty, and staff alike – who make our hard work and rush to meet weekly deadlines worth it.

Emma Hildebrand - Editor in Chief