The Rocket receives several SCJ honors

Aug. 17, 2020

The Rocket, the independent, student-run newspaper at Slippery Rock University, won several awards in the 2019-20 Society for Collegiate Journalists National Contest. The Rocket placed third for "Best Overall Newspaper” and second for “Best Overall Newspaper Online.”

Individual awards for page design and quality of content included:

First Place

• News Photography: “Healing in the Face of Hate” by Paris Malone, a 2019 SRU graduate with a degree in computing. 
• Sports Feature Story: “Ahead of Their Time,” by Karl Ludwig, a senior sport management major from Wexford. 
• Editorial Writing: “Brighter Days Ahead” by The Rocket Staff. 
• News Page Design: “The Future of Social Justice,” by the late Adam Zook and Hannah Shumsky, a senior secondary education-English major from Conway.
• Feature Page Design: “A Rockin' Love Story,” by Megan Bush, a 2019 SRU graduate with a degree in communication, and Hope Hoehler, a senior communication major from Allison Park.

• News Photography: “We're All OK,” by Keegan Beard, a senior communication major from Troy.   
• Enterprise Series: “Mental Health Coverage,” by Shumsky; Haley Potter, a 2020 SRU graduate with a degree in communication; and Allison Downs, a 2020 SRU graduate with a degree in communication. 
• Beat Reporting: “SGA Meeting coverage,” by Nina Cipriani, a sophomore communication major from Altoona. 
• Continuing Coverage: “Campus Carry Conversations at SRU,” by Hoehler and Shumsky. 
• Editorial Writing: “10,000 Steps Forward,” by The Rocket Staff. 
• News Page Design: “History in Transition,” by Downs, Cipriani, Potter and Shumsky.

• Sports Photography: “Passion for the Game,” by Hannah Slope, a sophomore communication major from Somerset. 
• Multimedia News Story: “What is SGA?,” by Shumsky. 
• News Story: “Healing in the Face of Hate,” by Zook. 
• Photo Essay, “Drag and Expression,” by Beard.

• Sports Photography: “Armstrong Slides By,” by Slope. 
• Sports Feature Story: “An Imperfect World,” by Ludwig 
• Front Page Design: “Providing Security Front Page,” by Shumsky and Eric Davies, a 2019 SRU graduate with a degree in communication.