The Daily Northwestern brought home 31 awards at the Illinois College Press Association’s annual convention in Chicago on Saturday.
The organization’s conference took place Friday and Saturday. At the awards luncheon Saturday afternoon, The Daily received six first-place awards, 10 second-place awards, seven third-place awards and eight honorable mentions in both the Open and Large School Divisions.
The Daily won the Large School Sweepstakes award, which recognizes newsroom excellence across all categories, as well as third place in the Large School General Excellence category for both web and print.
The contest judged content published in 2025. Medill senior and current Solutions Grant Coordinator Lily Ogburn was editor-in-chief of The Daily in Winter and Spring 2025, Medill senior David Samson was editor-in-chief in Summer 2025 and Medill senior and current Editor-in-Chief Emily Lichty assumed the role in Fall 2025.
“I’m feeling so proud of our wonderful staff at The Daily Northwestern,” Lichty said. “This awards ceremony was the culmination of a year of really hard work from both our print and multimedia teams, so it was really great to see all of that work and passion rewarded today.”
See below for a full award list.
First Place:
Newsletter (Open Division): Managing Editor Nineth Kanieski Koso for The Daily’s 2024 Rewind newsletter.
Feature Page Design (Large Schools): Multimedia Managing Editor Yong-Yu Huang and Senior Staffer Grace Wu for The Daily’s Fall 2025 Poll webpage.
Sports Game Story (Large Schools): Assistant Sports Editor Siddarth Sivaraman for covering NU men’s soccer team’s 2-1 win against Rutgers.
Sports Feature Story (Large Schools): Senior Staffer Dov Weinstein Elul for profiling one-handed NU running back Albert Kunickis III.
Front Page Layout (Large Schools): The Daily Northwestern Staff for the front page of the April 30 paper.
Large School Sweepstakes: The Daily Northwestern Staff
Second Place:
Critical Review – Film (Open Division): Editor-in-Chief Emily Lichty for a review on Wes Anderson’s “The Phoenician Scheme.”
Podcast – Sports (Open Division): The Daily Northwestern Staff for a podcast looking ahead to spring sports.
Sports News Story (Large Schools): Former Sports Editor Charlie Spungin for profiling NU golfer Dianna Lee.
Sports Game Story (Large Schools): Senior Staffer Eli Kronenberg for covering NU’s field hockey team at the NCAA Final Four weekend.
Sports Column (Large Schools): Senior Staffer Anna Watson for a column on NU’s baseball team.
Sports Page Design (Large Schools): Former Audience Engagement Editor Rachel Schlueter and former Multimedia Managing Editor Danny O’Grady for the Spring Sports Preview on pages 8-9 of the Feb. 19, 2025 paper.
Photo Essay (Large Schools): Creative Director Christina Lin for a gallery back-of-house at Cookology’s pop-up restaurant.
Sports Photo (Large Schools): Multimedia Managing Editor Jonah McClure for a photo of NU lacrosse player Madison Taylor jumping in celebration.
Headline Writing (Large Schools): Social Media Editor Ashley Dong for “Another one bites the crust: Bob’s Pizza closure leaves Evanston nightlife one slice short.”
DEI Coverage (Large Schools): The Daily Northwestern Staff
Third Place:
General Excellence – Web (Large Schools): The Daily Northwestern Staff
General Excellence – Print (Large Schools): The Daily Northwestern Staff
Entertainment Supplement (Open Division): The Daily Northwestern Staff for the Summer Style Guide on pages 7-10 of the May 28 paper.
Graphic Illustration (Open Division): Staff Editor Siri Reddy for an illustration on international students confronting the realities of Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Feature Page Design (Large Schools): Former Audience Engagement Editor Rachel Schlueter and former Multimedia Managing Editor Danny O’Grady for the Best of Evanston spread on pages 8-9 of the Feb. 26, 2025 paper.
Sports Page Design (Large Schools): Creative Director Matt Wasilewski and former Design Editor Shun Graves for the Gameday spread in the Nov. 12 paper.
Video Storytelling (Large Schools): Social Media Editor Avantika Singh and Senior Staffer Sydney Gaw for a video interviewing Nobel laureate Prof. Joel Mokyr.
Honorable Mention:
Podcast – Entertainment & Culture (Open Division): Former Senior Staffer Valentina Valcarce, Senior Staffer Finian Hazen and Reporter Isabela Camargos for a podcast covering Mayfest Productions’ Battle of the Artists.
Editorial (Large Schools): The Daily Northwestern Staff for an editorial standing with the staff of The Indiana Daily Student.
Opinion Pages (Large Schools): The Daily Northwestern Staff for page 6 of the Feb. 5, 2025 paper grappling with immigration.
Feature Story (Large Schools): Assistant Sports Editor Siddarth Sivaraman for a story on Evanston families grappling with children’s exposure to federal immigration enforcement.
Sports News Story (Large Schools): Senior Staffer Eli Kronenberg for covering NU’s field hockey team at the NCAA Final Four weekend.
General News Photo (Large Schools): Social Media Editor Ashley Dong for a photo of attendees at a news conference about ICE and Customs and Border Patrol enforcement in Evanston.
Video Storytelling (Large Schools): Senior Staffer Maia Alvarez for a video on Seesaw Theatre bringing accessibility to theater spaces.
Headline Writing (Large Schools): Senior Staffer Ben Shapiro for “An economy in scrambles: Some brunch spots charging egg-stra fees.”
Email: [email protected]
X: @siriii_r
Related Stories:
— The Daily Northwestern wins 18 awards at 2024 Illinois College Press Association convention
— The Daily Northwestern wins 33 awards at 2023 Illinois College Press Association convention
