University of Miami student media outlets continue to gain national recognition for outstanding work. In the recent Associated Collegiate Press (ACP) Spring National College Media Conference held in San Francisco and at the College Media Association Spring Convention in New York City, several student media publications received an impressive collection of honors.
The highlight was the Ibis Yearbook winning the prestigious Pacemaker Award—often called the “Pulitzer Prize of collegiate journalism”—an achievement that places the University of Miami among only three recipients this year, alongside Baylor University and Ouachita Baptist University.
Ibis has maintained a remarkable tradition of excellence, consistently earning Pacemaker honors or finalist status since 2005. This is the third consecutive year it has received the Pacemaker Award.
“Being recognized as a Pacemaker Yearbook, one of only three in the nation, is an incredible honor for the Ibis,” said Jake Sperling, a third-year School of Architecture student who is the yearbook’s editor-in-chief. “The Ibis has consistently upheld an incredibly high standard of excellence for our work. Year after year, we push ourselves to come up with unique ideas to revamp content and make each edition unique.”
But the accolades didn’t stop there. The University’s print student media swept the Best of Show categories, with Distraction magazine, Ibis 2025 yearbook, and The Miami Hurricane newspaper (under 15,000 circulation) each clinching first place in their respective divisions.
“I was ecstatic and proud to learn that The Miami Hurricane received first place for our Free Speech edition,” said Katie Karlson, editor-in-chief of the newspaper. “This award was the first one the Hurricane had received for an edition produced with this current staff and me as editor-in-chief. It was a really rewarding moment for everyone involved, especially considering the amount of dedication and number of late nights that went into producing the edition.”
In addition to these major honors, student media secured three overall design awards: DistractionMagazine.com earned second place for best website (four-year campus), The Miami Hurricane website came in seventh among schools with fewer than 15,000 undergraduates, and UMTV’s “NewsVision” was awarded ninth place for broadcast news program (four-year campus).
Randy Stano, professor of professional practice in the School of Communication and editorial adviser to the Ibis Yearbook and Distraction Magazine, said the University’s student media had gained a reputation for excellence. He was gratified to hear other media advisers praise the work of the University of Miami students.
“I feel honored to work with the talented staff we have on the Ibis Yearbook and Distraction Magazine,” he said. “It is super to see these publications recognized at the national level.”
Stano noted that this latest award was the 18th Pacemaker Award from ACP for the Ibis Yearbook, along with five finalists’ awards for the Ibis over the past two-plus decades, as well as numerous Best of Show.
The individual achievements were equally impressive, with students winning two first-place awards and collecting numerous other honors. Among the standout winners:
First Place: Taryn Jacobs, UMTV, “History of SportsDesk”; Charlotte DeAngelis and Ava Stroshane, Distraction, “The Little Things”
Second Place: Ava Stroshane, Ibis, “Touchdown!”; Ava Kezirian, UMTV, “Oliver’s Patches”; and Ariella Green and Jake Sperling, Ibis, “This is Miami”
Later in March, student media received further national recognition from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA), which announced its Collegiate 2026 Gold and Silver Crown awardees for the 2024-2025 academic year. The Crown Awards are the highest recognition given by the CSPA to a student print or digital medium for overall excellence.
Distraction Magazine was the only print general magazine Gold Crown winner and the combination print/online edition of Distraction was one of three hybrid Gold Crown winners, making it the only publication to receive two Gold Crowns.
In the same competition, the 2025 Ibis Yearbook was one of three Silver Crown winners.
