The Tower Awarded Among Top College Newspapers in NJ for Sixth Time

Published April 17, 2022

The Tower has been awarded second place for General Excellence among New Jersey’s college newspapers, both public and private, by the New Jersey Collegiate Press Association.

This is the sixth time since 2015-2016 that The Tower was ranked among the top three college newspapers in New Jersey, including winning the most coveted number-one slot for General Excellence in 2019-2020.

Chelsey Jaipersaud and Cindy Lazo, both Communication/Journalism majors who graduate in May, served as co-editors in chief of the award-winning paper in Fall 2021. This semester, Jaipersaud serves as Editor-in-Chief, while Lazo now serves as Features Editor.

“I am honestly proud of the hard work our staff of writers and editors put in, given that we had spent nearly a year online and just recently transitioned back to in-person,” Lazo said. “This award is a testament to their contributions.”

The General Excellence award is based on “coverage, writing quality, copyediting, style and layout in the newspaper.” Judging also takes local appeal, effectiveness, and readability into account, according to NJCPA rules.

The judges, who are professional journalists, said  The Tower had “good front-page stories with a good mix” of journalism, including enterprise stories, news, local features and profiles, and a nice layout.”

Jaipersaud was also awarded third place in the Column/Opinion Writing category for her piece, “One Relationship That Runs Deep,” a personal essay about her relationship with God.

Contest judges deemed Jaipersaud’s piece “wonderfully honest, brave and beautifully written.”

Jaipersaud received a second-place award last year in the same category for a column titled, “Coping with Heartbreak During Covid-19.”

“The column was very personal and at first I didn’t think I would win an award for this column, but I’m happy that it turned out to be a success,” said Jaipersaud. “I’m very proud of all the editors and reporters, they worked hard and this is their win.”

The Tower is required as part of the academic program in journalism in the School of Communication, Media & Journalism and currently has a staff of 20 students. Pat Winters Lauro, director of the journalism program,  and Lois DeSocio, adjunct professor, serve as the paper’s advisers.  Both worked previously as reporters and editors.  

“This award is especially gratifying given the circumstances the reporters and editors have had to work against for the past two semesters due to Covid,” said Lauro and DeSocio in a joint statement. “It’s a testament to their commitment to journalism —The Tower delivered without pause.”

The awards luncheon took place on Saturday, April 9 at the Forsgate Country Club in Monroe Twp.

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