Drake University’s journalism capstone publication, Think, recently won an Associated Collegiate Press Pacemaker Award. News/Internet and magazine majors produce the newsmagazine as a semester-long project during their senior years.
Think has been a Pacemaker finalist three times since its inception four years ago, winning in 2007 and again this year.
“That’s an extraordinary run of success,” said assistant professor Jill Van Wyke. “It’s a credit to the student staffs, to the journalism faculty, and to the faculty across the university who help mold such well-rounded journalists.”
The 2010 editor in chief was Matt McGuire, who’s now at Duke University Law School.
“The 2010 staff achieved a magazine that excelled in both editorial content and graphic design,” said Van Wyke. “It was an ideal fusion of reporting, writing, editing, photography and design. It’s always a pleasure to see how each class of seniors makes the magazine its own.”
Four other Drake publications were named finalists in the contest. Drake Magazine was also recognized as a finalist in the Design of the Year for Yearbook, Magazine Page or Spread category, for a design by Drake student Meredith Gallivan.
The publications named as finalists were:
* 515, a magazine produced by senior magazine students.
* Drake Magazine, a student-produced magazine.
* Periphery, an art and literary journal.
* The Times-Delphic, Drake’s campus newspaper.
No other institution in the nation had as many finalists in the newspaper and magazine categories as Drake.
“I’ll put our Drake students and our student publications up against those of any other school in the country,” Van Wyke said. “To have one Pacemaker finalist is a rare and distinct honor. To have five is unprecedented.”
Each year, the ACP honors the best in college publishing. Drake publications are perennial finalists in the contest and frequent winners.
This year, three of the top 10 magazine finalists were produced by Drake School of Journalism and Mass Communication students. The Times-Delphic is a finalist in the newspaper category while Periphery is in the literary category.
The Associated Collegiate Press is a division of the National Scholastic Press Association, which provides journalism education services to students, teachers, media advisers and others throughout the United States and in other countries.