The Montclarion has won five awards from the New Jersey Press Foundation’s (NJPF) 2024-2025 New Jersey College Newspaper Contest. Four of the awards were for second place, and one was ranked third.
All college news organizations across New Jersey are open to submit their works and has nine individual, three online and two newspaper categories. Participants are eligible for awards based on content like website design, articles, photography and more.
For his design of The Montclarion’s print magazine edition covering the 2024 presidential election, creative director Nicky Vidal scored second place in the Layout and Design category.
“My team and I are so happy about the win,” Vidal said. “It was a bit rough transitioning to a new format but we pulled through. [I] can’t wait to see how The Montclarion evolves in this new format.”
Sal DiMaggio, the editor-in-chief of The Montclarion, received third place in the Column/Opinion Writing category for his article titled “Montclair State Dining: Why Are We Still Waiting?”
“Winning third place in opinion writing is a huge honor,” DiMaggio said. “That article was about frustrations with delays to dining updates on campus, and I’m glad to have written a piece that made an impact and is recognized.”
The other awards The Montclarion won are as follows: assistant news editor Emily Ramirez won second place in news writing for “Confusion on Campus as Classes Without Rooms Get Moved to Online“; opinion editor Colin Luderitz and assistant opinion editor Cassandra Michalakis won second place in Editorial Writing for “EDITORIAL: In Bad Taste: Mandated Meal Plans for Apartment Residents is Unsavory“; and The Montclarion staff won second place in the General Excellence category for its work on the election and winter editions of The Montclarion’s print magazine.
Staff of The Montclarion will receive their awards at the 2025 NJ Collegiate Press Seminar & Awards Luncheon at Forsgate Country Club in Monroe, N.J. on April 26.
DiMaggio commented on the organization’s success.
“I couldn’t be prouder of our team for winning second place in the general excellence category,” DiMaggio said. “We’re up against top schools in the nation like Princeton and Rutgers, and this award is a testament to our team’s commitment to deliver content that is all-around fantastic.”
