The Xavierite Takes Home Honors at ICPA Awards
Saint Xavier University's (SXU) student-run newspaper, The Xavierite, recently took home several honors at the 2025 Illinois College Press Association (ICPA) Awards. The team won first place for "Sports Column," second place for "News Story," "General News Photo," "Headline Writing," and "Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Coverage," and third place in "Column," "Editorial," and "Sweepstakes," a category based on the number of wins the paper brought home.
"To say I'm proud of The Xavierite staff is an understatement. In a time where good journalism is needed more than ever, seeing these student journalists work hard, learn the fundamentals of reporting, and then get recognized for their accomplishments is a truly wonderful feeling," said Pete Kreten, director of Student Media.
ICPA member schools can nominate their student journalists for awards in 29 categories each year, including editorials, graphic illustrations, advertisements, podcasts, newsletters, and more. Categories are judged by professional journalists across Illinois and other parts of the country. Participating schools are asked to submit entries of the highest quality.
"I am so incredibly proud of The Xavierite staff for working so many late nights and working together to achieve such great accomplishments. Winning the awards was a great success but getting together and bonding as a team is an even greater success. We became a family. Our office is our safe place, somewhere where we can come to be with each other and enjoy something that we all love, The Xavierite. I know that we will continue to grow and be the absolute best that we can be," said Emma Gabrys, editor-in-chief.
"I never thought I'd win an award, let alone for writing about something from my childhood. It's an absolute honor to be among the many journalists in the Chicagoland area. As nice as it looks on my resume, the award looks much nicer framed on my wall. It shows that journalism is very much not dead in this age of artificial intelligence. The only intelligence needed in this world is that of the human mind, for there are problems that need to be solved. Winning back-to-back, two years in a row, was unexpected but shows how much we as a paper staff have improved. There have been struggles and hardships, but we are overcoming them. Let these awards exemplify who we will strive to be, now and forever,” added Brian Raica, deputy editor-in-chief.