The Setonian Receives Seven Awards  

The New Jersey Press Foundation has recognized Seton Hall's student-run newspaper, The Setonian, for seven awards in the annual New Jersey College Newspaper Contest.

The Setonian won two first place, three second place and two third place awards, all in different categories. Three students were recognized individually, as well as the Editorial board and The Setonian as a whole.

The awards were bestowed by the New Jersey Press Foundation, now in its 160th year in existence; the foundation uses the NJ College Newspaper Contest to highlight the best newspapers and student-journalists from all colleges and universities in the state. The contest is broken down into fourteen categories, which highlight all major aspects of a newspaper, as well as one for general excellence. Each category is considered separately for two-year colleges and four-year colleges, then placed first through third for each.

Last year, The Setonian was recognized three different times, each in third place of the category. This year, the staff more than doubled their success and were awarded for seven of the fourteen categories. The accomplishment made them the second-highest awarded newspaper.

Elizabeth Swinton, the sports editor of The Setonian, was recognized for her sports writing in the contest. She placed second for her articles on members of the Seton Hall Men's basketball team, Jevon Thomas and Madison Jones, learning from past mistakes as well as a feature on Seton Hall's baseball team shaving their heads to encourage pediatric cancer research.

"To win second place in sports writing was a bit of a surprise to me, but it's definitely a cool honor" said Swinton. "From the leadership to the staff, The Setonian is comprised of dedicated individuals that look to make the paper better each week and that I am proud to be a part of."

News Editor Ashley Turner won third place in the column/opinion writing category for her article, "An Open Letter to my Pro-Life Father" and "The Garden State could get a Little Greener."

The Editorial board won second place for their editorials, "Calling all Pirates to the Polls," and "Don't Let Fear and Hate Define Us."

The Setonian as a whole won second place for its website and third for overall excellence for Issue 19 and the Basketball Issue of the paper.

Gary Phillips, the Editor-in-chief of The Setonian, won two first-place awards for his feature and biography/personal profile writing. Last year, Phillips placed third for feature stories, and is the only Setonian winner this year who also won last year.

"News of these honors has me ecstatic," Phillips, said in a statement. "The number of awards won and certain specific honors is a reflection of not only how hard everyone on this paper works, but how we all have embraced a team mentality. I am incredibly proud of the individual placings by Elizabeth, Ashley and myself, but it's the categories like General Excellence and Overall Website that takes an entire group to buy in. Those honors include everything that goes into being a successful media outlet — writing, reporting, editing, design, graphics, digital, social media, photography, management, etc. — so I am particularly happy that our team was recognized. This is a group I am so beyond proud of."