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Four Olivet College Echo staff members have earned honors in the 2015 Better Collegiate Newspaper contest, offered annually by the Michigan Press Association.
Layout editor Jacob Reinsmith won top honors for his front page design in the Division III newspaper category. Reinsmith, a junior, has been with the Echo for three years. His winning design was a collection of letters, photographed from signs throughout the campus, spelling out “Homecoming”.
Senior Hailey Willett won an honorable mention honor for her news story about the Olivet High School FFA (Future Farmers of America) barn fire. Willett, a senior, and copy editor at the Echo, was noted for “good reporting and clear writing” by the contest judges.
Class of 2015 graduates Hayley Drummond and Emily Tierney were also selected for their work in the Echo. Drummond was a photographer for the newspaper, and last year’s Garfield Lake Review editor. She was given a second place honor for a news-only photo of the blue ribbons wrapped around campus trees last year in support of the League of Lucas, an effort to support assistant professor Michael Fredericks and his family as his son battled cancer. “A simple shot, yet very poignant,” wrote the judges.
Tierney, an English major, was given a third place honor in the sports news/features category for a story on Mixed Martial Arts boxer, and student, Caleb Grummet.
The Echo has won numerous MPA collegiate newspaper awards over the years, including 2014 and 2012. The Echo is a member of the Michigan Collegiate Press Association as well as the Associated Collegiate Press.