Sul Ross Skyline Wins Prestigious Awards

By Joh Covington, Skyline Desk Chief

FORT WORTH – The preeminent Texas college journalism organization awarded two Skyline staff members with awards for their work during an annual convention that featured the newspaper’s advisor as a keynote speaker. 

Skyline Editor Brooke Manuel won first place at the 2023 Texas Intercollegiate Press Association conference in General News for a story on student anxiety over returning to classes after the Uvalde shooting, and former student Kris Porter won third place in the editorial cartoon category for their depiction of a Gender-Neutral Homecoming. 

The 2023 TIPA convention in Ft. Worth gave journalism and communications students an opportunity to network and attend workshops from experts across the state.  

Manuel’s story, Anxious Parents, Students Return to School in Wake of Uvalde Shooting covered the start of the new school year in the shadow of the Uvalde tragedy, interviewing several parents and students about their uncertainties and fears. 

This story was actually the first that Manuel had written for the newspaper.  

“I can’t believe that the first news story that I ever wrote won an award,” said Manuel. 

Here is a link to Manuel’s story: https://www.sulrossskyline.com/archives/anxious-parents-students-return-to-school-in-wake-of-uvalde-shooting 

Porter’s cartoon panel, pictured below, was a comedic, yet sharp, take on the discussion of making the age-old tradition of homecoming gender neutral by changing the homecoming court’s titles. This discussion is still progressing at Sul Ross, as recently as last semester. 

Sul Ross Writer in Residence and professor Sidney Balman, who also advises the Skyline, spoke on the Bridge Between Journalism and Fiction. Balman, a Washington-based diplomatic and national security correspondent for 20 years, discussed how he incorporated those experiences into his awarded Seventh Flag trilogy, the final installment of which comes out in August.