Lamar University’s student media picked up 32 awards at the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association convention in Denton, March 19-20, including a record seven awards in on-site competition.
University Press editor Rayna Christy, who served as the TIPA student body secretary for the statewide organization for 2025-26, said the awards were spread among 17 students across many disciplines.
“After being on the administrative side of TIPA during the convention, it was amazing to see just how well the staff and student media did,” Christy said. “I was able to sit with our group and celebrate alongside all of our competitors as Lamar kept winning awards.”
The seven on-site awards included three first places. Christy placed first in the Copy Editing contest, UP staff writer Regina Ruiz placed first in TV announcing-Spanish, and UP ad representative Elijah Nelson won the Newspaper Advertising contest.
UP photo editor Carlos Viloria placed second in the Live Sports Photo category, UP news editor Maria Rodriguez earned third place for Live Spanish News Writing, and honorable mentions went to UP sports editor for Live Print Sports Writing and Christy for Live Print News Writing.
On-site competitions involve students from schools across the state among the 375 attendees at the convention.
“To place in so many categories is a testament to the students first and foremost, but it also shows that we are doing a good job preparing our staffers for the professional field,” Andy Coughlan, director of student publications, said. “Live contest replicates the professional environment with fast turnarounds and strict deadlines. It is a great learning experience and builds confidence in their abilities.”
LU student media also earned 25 awards for work published during the 2025 calendar year.
Former UP social media manager Sydney Vo and the UP staff placed first in the Social Media Overall Excellence category.
“Social media is an important part of professional media and it is more than just posting pictures,” Coughlan said. “Media outlets depend on social media to alert people to the quality content the students are producing. It requires strategic planning and hard work by the entire staff.”
UP web manager Adam Nguyen placed first in the Social Media General Coverage category, UP contributor Dalia Osman placed first in the Cartoon Strip/Panel category and Saenz placed first the Sports Page Design category.
UP managing editor Kami Greene won for General News Video Story for her work with LUTV, and LUTV’s Phil Borjas won for Sportscast Video.
Second place was awarded to the UP staff for Website Overall Excellence, Overall Newspaper Design and Special Edition Design. Other second place awards went to former UP editor Maddie Sims for Critical Review, Nataly Magana and Nancy Ryan for Static Ad Design, Kevin Flanagan for Editorial Cartoon and Viloria for General News Photo.
The UP staff earned third-place for Newspaper Overall Excellence. Third place went to Christy for Headline Writing, and Ruiz for Spanish Opinion Writing and for Spanish News Story. Ruiz and Christy shared awards for Newspaper Feature Page Design and Newspaper Editorial Page Design.
LUTV earned third place for Landin Doucet in the General News Video Story category and Chris Love for In-Depth News Reporting-Video.
Honorable mentions went to the UP staff for Overall Web Design, Vo for General News Photo and Greene for Static Information Graphic. Sims and contributor Meagan Lafley won honorable mention for In-Depth Reporting.
“Student media is open to all majors and departments, not just communication majors,” Christy said. “If you’re interested in writing, broadcasting or just media in general, LU student media would love to have you.”
The previously published contest drew more than 2,000 entries across the categories.
TIPA is the oldest collegiate journalism organization in the country, and currently has 63 member programs representing 51 campuses, both four- and two-year institutions.
