The Campus Carrier staff brought home 11 awards from this year’s Georgia College Press Association (GCPA) Better Newspaper Contest, including their second consecutive first-place win for General Excellence in Division B. 

“We are honored to receive this recognition again,” senior Cassie LaJeunesse, editor-in-chief, said. “I am thankful that our staff can be recognized for our service to the Berry community.” 

Eleven staff members attended the GCPA conference in Athens on Friday. Prior to the awards ceremony, they attended sessions on various topics in journalism. 

“The sessions give us a good look at industry trends and how we can apply them in our work,” senior Claire Voltarel, managing editor, said. “We always walk away with 100 ideas of how to improve our own paper.” 

The full list of recognitions is as follows: 

• First place – General Excellence 

• First place – Best Campus Community Service – News 

• First place – Best Campus Community Service – Features 

• First place – Layout and Design Excellence 

• Second place – Best Campus Community Service – Sports 

• Second place – Improvement Award 

• Second place – Best Feature Story 

• Second place – Best Entertainment Feature 

• Third place – Best Website 

• Third place – Best Campus Community Service – Editorial Excellence 

• Third place – Best Editorial or Editorial Series 

Sophomore Taylor Corley was also elected Vice President of GCPA’s college board for 2020. 

The Better Newspaper Contest honors excellence in college journalism throughout Georgia. Division B encompasses four-year colleges and universities in Georgia with enrollments of under 8,000 students. 

The Campus Carrier staff includes 24 Berry students from across years and majors. 

“The people on staff at the Carrier are some of the smartest, most hard-working people I know,” LaJeunesse said. “I couldn’t be prouder of them and all the work that they do.”