The Chronicle placed second for Media Website of the Year among colleges and universities with enrollments between 3,000 and 9,999 students.
Four Chronicle staff members also won national recognition in the Pinnacle College Media Awards, earning two first-place and two second-place awards for breaking news story, general news photo, column and short doc.
The other top website award winners in the mid-sized division were Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and Lehigh University in Pennsylvania.
Winners were announced at the College Media Association and Associated Collegiate Press joint convention at Westin Kansas City at Crown Center this week.
Earlier this year, the Chronicle won first place for Best News Website at the College Media Association’s Spring 2026 Apple Awards and a first place general excellence award for web from the Illinois College Press Association.
Alumni Sydney Richardson and Vivian Richey, both 2026 journalism graduates, and Kate Julianne Larroder, a journalism and communication graduate, were editors-in-chief during the award period for the last academic year.
“I think this accomplishment will be very empowering for past, present and future Chronicle staffers,” said Richardson, who is a research assistant at Chicago Magazine. “I hope this honor cements student journalists as a valuable asset that the college should be investing in.”
Richey, who is a freelance and student success coach with City Year, said she is proud of the legacy the Chronicle continues to build.
“Winning second place is a testament to the dedication, creativity and hard work that all Chronicle staff have put into our coverage,” she said.
Sofía Oyarzún, a senior photojournalism major and marketing minor, won first place for her photograph of a protester being tackled by law enforcement officers outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview in November 2025.
The same photo won awards in the Spring 2026 National College Media Convention hosted by the College Media Association, as well as first place for news photography in February 2026 from the Illinois College Press Association.
“It is a privilege and a responsibility to tell a story like this one,” said Oyarzún, who is the Chronicle’s La Crónica editor this semester. “I’m so grateful for that opportunity, and even more grateful for the light this win brings to the voices and story I was fortunate enough to share. I’ll remember this experience for the rest of my career.”
Oyarzún was also a 2026 Peter Lisagor Award winner, one of the highest honors in Chicago journalism.
Eleanor Lusciatti, who graduated in May with a bachelor’s in photojournalism, won second place for a column about the climate movement leaving disabled people behind, which she wrote for the Chronicle’s 2026 “Sustainability Issue” when she was opinions editor.
Michael Cortez, a 2026 audio arts alum, won second place for his short documentary about a Pilsen resident who feared leaving his home due to federal immigration enforcement in Chicago in Fall 2025 during Operation Midway Blitz. Cortez, who was a staff video journalist, also won first place for the documentary at the Illinois College Press Association awards earlier this year.
Cortez has continued to produce documentaries since graduation in collaboration with Carlos Alanis-Avila, the Chronicle’s director of photography and a film and television major.
Emma Jolly, a 2026 journalism alum, won for her breaking news story about Columbia running out of on-campus housing for returning students in Spring 2026, which she wrote when deputy editor of the Chronicle.
“I was really proud of that story and everything that I accomplished with that and everything that it did for the students and the community at Columbia,” Jolly said. “So I’m glad that that was submitted. But hearing that it actually won first place for breaking news was insane.
Jolly is now working as a food, health and culture reporter at The Times of Northwest Indiana.
“When I was interviewing for jobs, that was something that people really underestimated. They were like, ‘well, do you have any internship experience?’ And I would always say, ‘no, but I worked at the Chronicle,’ because to me, like that was the equivalent of being in a position that prepares you for a job like that,” Jolly said.
Jackie Spinner, faculty advisor of the Chronicle and a professor in the School of Communication and Culture, said the awards were “extraordinary recognition.”
“I’m proud of our newsroom,” she said. “The students care deeply about the stories they tell and serve our campus community by holding institutions accountable. The awards reflect that.”
Ames Hawkins, dean of the School of Communication and Culture, said they were thrilled and in awe but not surprised by the awards.
“The work our students produce is of the highest caliber, absolutely on par with, and in many cases exceeding, all big name J-schools in the state, and even the country,” Hawkins, a professor, said in an email.
Copy edited by Isaac Russo and Venus Tapang
