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SPJ chapter lands national award
September 28, 2007
When Tove Tupper, president of PLU’s Society of Professional Journalists chapter, first heard the news, she couldn’t quite believe it.
“I screamed,” Tupper said, recalling the reaction she had when she heard that the campus' SPJ chapter had been named “outstanding student chapter of the nation” by the society’s national office.
This news came on the heels of the chapter being named, for the third time in a row, the “outstanding campus chapter” for the region by SPJ.
“I didn’t think this was ever going to happen,” said Tupper, who will graduate next year and plans to pursue a career in broadcasting. “It was really overwhelming.”
These awards are particularly significant, both Tupper and communications professor and chapter advisor Joanne Lisosky noted, because the PLU chapter has traditionally been small, no more than a dozen “hard core,” members. Still, the chapter must compete against much larger groups at Washington State or the University of Washington, Tupper noted.
PLU’s region, Region 10, includes student chapters for the University of Washington, Washington State University, University of Oregon and several smaller schools. In all, 200 schools nationally have SPJ chapters.
The regional award honors the student chapter in each area that has been most active in upholding the missions of the society during the past year. This marks the fourth time in six years that the PLU chapter earned the honor.
The regional award recognizes the hard work the students put in during the year, explained Ingrid Stegemoeller ’07, who served as the chapter’s secretary during her senior year. The group worked diligently to host and sponsor events that coincided with SPJ’s mission to improve and protect journalism.
Stegemoeller said she was surprised by the third win in a row regionally, but given that win, the national award came as less of a surprise last week.
Tupper and other campus SPJ leaders credited both wins with the passion of the chapter’s members and “the ability to stand up and fight for what we believe in,” she said.
“Whether rallying students against censorship or sending journalism textbooks to the Far East, this small student chapter has been exemplary in pursing SPJ’s mission,” agreed Nathan Isaacs, former Region 10 director.
Each year, the chapter helps organize the annual School of Arts and Communication week, which brings to campus dozens of speakers, workshops and panels focused on communication and arts topics. But Tupper and Stegemoeller agree it was the group’s protest against censorship last year that likely won them the regional award and then the national honor.
The protest stemmed from an advertisement in The Mast for a local pub that the administration asked be removed due to its promotion of alcohol. The Mast media students and SPJ chapter members claimed the move was censorship and staged protests, editorialized their concerns in the student newspaper and submitted resolutions to ASPLU.
“It was a big deal for us,” Breanne Coats said. In her view “it was about what SPJ is about, protecting the First Amendment and protecting journalists’ rights.”
The chapter is planning to be active again this year, and has already begun planning for a “First Amendment Free Food Festival” in Red Square, which will be sectioned off and have a guarded entrance. To enter the event, students will forfeit their First Amendment rights and learn what life would be like if freedom of speech didn’t exist, Tupper said.
“SPJ is what you make of it, especially on a campus chapter,” Stegemoeller said. “Our chapter made it a priority.”
The student chapter meets several times a month. Membership to the national SPJ organization costs $35 a year, but students aren’t required to be national members to be a part of the PLU student chapter, Coats said.
“For any profession you’re in, you’re going to want to be in the top organization for that profession,” Coats said. “That’s what SPJ is for journalists.
Formal announcements of the awards will be made Friday, Oct. 5, at the SPJ 2007 Convention and National Journalism Conference in Washington D.C. Representatives from PLU will attend the event and accept the award.
University Communications staff Barbara Clements and Megan Haley compiled this report. Comments, questions, story ideas? Call us at ext. 7427 or or ext. 8691.
This news came on the heels of the chapter being named, for the third time in a row, the “outstanding campus chapter” for the region by SPJ.
“I didn’t think this was ever going to happen,” said Tupper, who will graduate next year and plans to pursue a career in broadcasting. “It was really overwhelming.”
These awards are particularly significant, both Tupper and communications professor and chapter advisor Joanne Lisosky noted, because the PLU chapter has traditionally been small, no more than a dozen “hard core,” members. Still, the chapter must compete against much larger groups at Washington State or the University of Washington, Tupper noted.
PLU’s region, Region 10, includes student chapters for the University of Washington, Washington State University, University of Oregon and several smaller schools. In all, 200 schools nationally have SPJ chapters.
The regional award honors the student chapter in each area that has been most active in upholding the missions of the society during the past year. This marks the fourth time in six years that the PLU chapter earned the honor.
The regional award recognizes the hard work the students put in during the year, explained Ingrid Stegemoeller ’07, who served as the chapter’s secretary during her senior year. The group worked diligently to host and sponsor events that coincided with SPJ’s mission to improve and protect journalism.
Stegemoeller said she was surprised by the third win in a row regionally, but given that win, the national award came as less of a surprise last week.
Tupper and other campus SPJ leaders credited both wins with the passion of the chapter’s members and “the ability to stand up and fight for what we believe in,” she said.
“Whether rallying students against censorship or sending journalism textbooks to the Far East, this small student chapter has been exemplary in pursing SPJ’s mission,” agreed Nathan Isaacs, former Region 10 director.
Each year, the chapter helps organize the annual School of Arts and Communication week, which brings to campus dozens of speakers, workshops and panels focused on communication and arts topics. But Tupper and Stegemoeller agree it was the group’s protest against censorship last year that likely won them the regional award and then the national honor.
The protest stemmed from an advertisement in The Mast for a local pub that the administration asked be removed due to its promotion of alcohol. The Mast media students and SPJ chapter members claimed the move was censorship and staged protests, editorialized their concerns in the student newspaper and submitted resolutions to ASPLU.
“It was a big deal for us,” Breanne Coats said. In her view “it was about what SPJ is about, protecting the First Amendment and protecting journalists’ rights.”
The chapter is planning to be active again this year, and has already begun planning for a “First Amendment Free Food Festival” in Red Square, which will be sectioned off and have a guarded entrance. To enter the event, students will forfeit their First Amendment rights and learn what life would be like if freedom of speech didn’t exist, Tupper said.
“SPJ is what you make of it, especially on a campus chapter,” Stegemoeller said. “Our chapter made it a priority.”
The student chapter meets several times a month. Membership to the national SPJ organization costs $35 a year, but students aren’t required to be national members to be a part of the PLU student chapter, Coats said.
“For any profession you’re in, you’re going to want to be in the top organization for that profession,” Coats said. “That’s what SPJ is for journalists.
Formal announcements of the awards will be made Friday, Oct. 5, at the SPJ 2007 Convention and National Journalism Conference in Washington D.C. Representatives from PLU will attend the event and accept the award.
University Communications staff Barbara Clements and Megan Haley compiled this report. Comments, questions, story ideas? Call us at ext. 7427 or or ext. 8691.