NJIT's Vector Captures Numerous Awards at College Media Contests
NJIT’s student newspaper, The Vector, continues making its journalistic voice heard — the paper is the recipient of several awards from U.S. college media contests recently.
The Vector was named the Corbin Gwaltney Award winner for “Best All-Around Student Newspaper” (among large universities) at the Society of Professional Journalists Region 1 Mark of Excellence Awards, beating out competition from the likes of Hofstra University and Boston College.
Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) judges have praised the paper for its “visuality and a creative selection of content”, adding, “the interesting lead stories, written with grace and clarity, the page design, typography, and the organization of information are remarkable in this publication.”
The Vector and the contest’s other regional winners will be entered into the national Mark of Excellence Awards contest held later this spring.
“[It’s rewarding] to see people around campus picking up a printed edition of the paper and congratulating the contributors for their great work,” said The Vector Managing Editor, mathematics major, and Albert Dorman Honors College student Yukthi Sangoi ’24. “To me, that’s what such awards stand for — we are able to engage with our community in ways that are meaningful to both parties. Receiving these awards shows our presence and influence outside of campus, and we feel honored to be recognized.”
“From when I first joined the organization in 2019 to now, I can see how The Vector has been discovering its potential as a newspaper as the staff builds upon their skills as writers, photographers, and graphic designers,” added The Vector Editor-in-Chief and biomedical engineering student at Albert Dorman Honors College, Sandra Raju ’22. “It’s exciting to see our organization win these awards because not only does it showcase the hard work and dedication put in by our executive board and staff, but also shows that we are capable of producing meaningful and impactful content that’s deserving of recognition.”
Adding to their awards haul, The Vector also recently landed a pair of third-place awards for “Best COVID Coverage” and for “Best Newspaper” (among 4-year universities, 5,000-10,000 undergraduates) at the National College Media Convention 2022's Apple Awards. The awards were hosted in March, at the New York Marriott Marquis in Times Square.
"I thought it would be a great opportunity to enter our paper into the contest. You never know unless you try,” said Sreya Das '22, copy editor and senior staff writer at The Vector, who applied for the contest and selected which pieces to submit. “I started writing for The Vector within the first two weeks of my freshman year. … Seeing how it has grown and changed over the past four years makes me so proud!"
Above: The Vector takes honors at the National College Media Convention 2022's Apple Awards. From left to right: Jackie Alexander (director of Student Media at the University of Alabama at Birmingham), Yukthi Sangoi '24; Sreya Das '22; and Evan Markowitz (Vector Senior Staff Writer and computer science major '22). Credit: Sreya Das
It’s the first time the paper has won an Apple award at the conference, which began in 2007 and is open to submissions over the past year from college student newspapers around the country — including Ivy Leagues and other universities with longstanding journalism programs.
“It meant a lot to be recognized at a national journalism conference, especially coming from a STEM school where most of our staff members are not studying journalism or related majors,” noted Das, an Albert Dorman Honors College undergrad majoring in computer science.
The latest recognition for The Vector comes on the heels of notoriety it has earned particularly for its COVID coverage since 2020.
Physics student Sabastian Fernandes’ piece Online Party Games Provide Protection During Quarantine also won an award from the Society of Professional Journalists, publicized last year.
"This recognition is well-deserved,” said Miriam Ascarelli, senior university lecturer at NJIT’s Humanities & Social Sciences Department who is the paper’s student advisor. “Students at The Vector put their heart and soul into producing a newspaper that comes out weekly. It’s especially impressive, given the rigorous course load they carry.''
