The Collegian received first place for best overall college newspaper Web site from the Society of News Design, and Richmond College named one of the site's key architects the member of the class of 2009 who made the greatest contribution to his class.
Dan Petty, the former online editor of The Collegian, won the "Most Significant Contributor Award" for the senior class on April 20 at the Richmond College Senior Dinner. The award is given out for each class, and is selected by a committee composed of past award winners and several Richmond College dean's office staff members.
The Collegian's award was part of the 21st-annual Student Society for News Design contest, which is co-sponsored by the University of Missouri and the Society for News Design. Pennsylvania State University finished second and the University of Miami (Fla.) took third. Winners were announced April 21, on SSND's blog.
"I think it's really a testament to all of the hard work and hours we put in to offer the UR community something different," Petty said. "We weren't doing this with the idea of winning an award, we were doing this to help enhance a community. Getting recognition is certainly a good feeling but it was not what we were aiming for."
Other key contributors to the Web site's success were Remo Kommnick, former Web designer; Kimberly Leonard, former online managing editor; and David Larter, online reporter.
"This has been the culmination of an arduous process and a lot of work," Larter said. "None of us knew the first thing about Web sites and now we have been recognized for our efforts. It's incredibly rewarding."
Petty spearheaded the project during the summer of 2008, reaching out to journalism students who might be interested in developing the site, Leonard said. The four looked at other news Web sites to emulate the best designs, making their own, final template, she said.
Petty said he did not come to Richmond expecting to be a journalism major. He didn't take his first journalism class until the summer after his freshman year. Petty, also a member of the cross country and track teams here, said one of his former high school coaches encouraged him to write for The Collegian.
"I am very appreciative of the opportunities I have been afforded at Richmond," Petty said. "I got to talk to so many different people, and it was truly a blessing. I've written with the idea of trying to understand the community better and conveying that understanding to the people here who read The Collegian's work.
"The team that is going to replace us is going to take the site to even greater heights."
In March, The Collegian's print edition received second-place standing for five Society of Professional Journalists Region 2 college-level Mark of Excellence Awards, including Best All-Around Non-Daily Student Newspaper and In-Depth Reporting, for "Gossip Web site stirs campus community," by Carly Gorga, former news editor.
The three remaining awards went to Barrett Neale, former sports editor and current editor-in-chief. She won for Online Sports Reporting, for "Football wins first national championship in school history," Online Opinion and Commentary and Sports Column Writing.
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Contact staff writer Nick Mider at nick.mider@richmond.edu
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