Finalists announced here each day.
The Crown Awards honor top student publications chosen from CSPA members. Crowns are selected for overall excellence in a head-to-head comparison by category. Student publications in news, magazine, yearbook, or online formats are all eligible. During Crown adjudication, publications are judged for excellence demonstrated through design, photography, concept, coverage, and writing. A total of 540 publications were eligible for judging in the 2025 competition.
Crown Awards are considered at Columbia by panels of invited judges, working in small groups to review each publication. The judging panel included:
Alyssa Boehringer, ILPC Director, McKinney, TX; Jane Blystone, retired adviser, North East, PA; Judi Coolidge, retired adviser, Avon Lake, OH; Mary Kay Downes, retired adviser, Chantilly, VA; Brenda Gorsuch, retired adviser, Mills River NC; Kevin Lerner, Assistant Professor of Communication/Journalism at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY; Alan Murray, president and co-founder of Uncharted, Malvern, PA; Mark Murray, executive director, ATPI, Santa Fe, NM; Violet Turner, retired adviser, Chicago, IL; Chris Waugaman, assistant professor at Virginia State University in Mass Communications in Petersburg, VA; Mitch Ziegler, retired adviser, Torrance, CA; and Kathleen Zwiebel, retired adviser, Pottsville, PA.
From December 11 through December 13, 2024, CSPA will announce finalists for Gold and Silver Crown Awards. All finalists will receive either a Gold or Silver Crown Award, to be presented Friday, March 21, 2025, at the CSPA 101st Annual Spring Convention.
Live announcements of the 2024 Crown Award finalists were made on CSPA’s Facebook and Instagram (@cspanyc) feeds on each of the three days. See the finalist lists below:
December 11: Magazines
December 12: News Publications
December 13: Yearbook
Learn more about CSPA Awards Programs and the Crown Awards, and see past Crown Award winners here.
For more information, please contact CSPA at cspa [[at]] columbia [[dot]] edu.