Content Warning: This article contains references to suicide and eating disorders.
The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) awarded the Wheel with eight first-place Region 3 Mark of Excellence Awards for best student journalism on April 10. The Wheel, which competed in the “large” university category, was also ranked as a finalist six times, including for the Corbin Gwaltney Award for Best All-Around Student Newspaper.
In the “In-Depth Reporting” category, SPJ awarded first place to the Wheel’s news series on women’s history at Emory University. The series included “50 years later, former students reflect on gender quota” by Editor-in-Chief Matthew Chupack (24C) and former Editor-in-Chief Brammhi Balarajan (23C), “Through the side door: 138 years of women’s history at Emory” by Managing Editor Madi Olivier (25C) and “Since 1980: Emory’s growing female-to-male student body ratio” by former Senior News Editor Ninad Kulkarni (22C).
Chupack said he believes reflecting on the past is an important part of journalism. When he looked at the Wheel’s archives, he found that Emory lifted the gender quota that limited the number of female students 50 years ago, prompting him to write the story with Balarajan.
“The 50-year anniversary just really showed how much progress has been made on behalf of women and marginalized communities, but it also just was a reminder of how hard people had to work to get to where we are today and see some of the issues that are still prevalent here,” Balarajan said.
According to Chupack, the article also reminds readers that the female experience at Emory could be further improved.
“I'm glad that this story was recognized as being well-written and well-received by the reviewers,” Chupack said. “I'm very proud of it.”
Former Executive Editor Sophia Ling (24C) won the “Food/Restaurant Journalism” category with “Sophia’s Smorgasbord,” which explores the intersection between food, culture and politics. She found food to be an indicator of culture and shows the “progression of culture through time.” Ling also gained recognition as a finalist in the “Editorial/Opinion Writing” category for her opinion columns.
Managing Editor Sophia Peyser (25C), Ling and Balarajan won first place in the “General Column Writing” category with “Lutalica,” an opinion series exploring reconciliation with one’s own identity.
Ling said it feels “amazing” to win the awards.
“After you write so much, you're kinda like, ‘I just want people to maybe relate to what you write,’” Ling said. “That's why I enjoy writing because at some point someone's going to relate to what you write about and to have it recognized — I didn't think it was gonna happen.”
In the “Sports Column Writing” category, Managing Editors Claire Fenton (24C) and Jenna Daly (25B) placed first for their column focused on accountability, including “It’s not a game anymore,” which examined mental health and suicide among student athletes. The series also included Daly’s “Running on empty: Female runners pressured to slim down to speed up,” which dives into the prevalence of eating disorders among female athletes, and Fenton’s “The casual cruelty of the phrase ‘throw like a girl,’” which discusses sexism in the male-dominated world of sports. Daly said the topics were very “important and personal” to her and Fenton, adding that winning the award makes her feel like other people care about the issues they wrote about.
“We really wanted to highlight the mental health of athletes and holding administrations and athletic departments accountable for taking care of their athletes,” Daly said.
Fenton said she was happy to win the award with Daly, as they worked closely together as sports editors for the past year.
“I'm really proud of the effort that we both put into those pieces,” Fenton said. “I'm glad that the award kind of, in a way, highlights … the new type of content we were able to bring to the sports section as female editors in what tends to be a male-dominated industry.”
Arts & Entertainment Editor Ben Brodsky (25B) received first place in the “Culture Criticism” category for his arts columns focused on hip-hop music. He started writing about hip-hop before joining the Wheel and is currently planning on writing a full column to be compiled into a book next year. Easton Lane (25C) was also a finalist in the “Culture Criticism” category for his arts columns focused on music album reviews, including rock, heavy metal and classical music.
Brodsky was also named a finalist in the “General Column Writing” category for “Brodsky in Between,” which focuses on examining politics through lenses such as psychology, philosophy and social media. He said he is excited that SPJ recognized the Wheel community through these awards.
“It's a testament to the quality of staff that we have at the Wheel,” Brodsky said. “I'm just really proud and happy for everybody that was included in the awards.”
In the “Illustration” category, Chau Anh Nguyen (26C) won first place for “Red wave,” an illustration representing the trend of Republican wins predicted during the 2022 election cycle.
Live Art Desk Samuel Shafiro (25C) placed first with “Nothing is fair in art and war” in the “Arts/Entertainment/Fashion Journalism” category. The article explores the influence of politics, government and war on art.
The Wheel’s news-focused podcast, Wheel Talk, placed first in the “Radio News Reporting” category for its episode “The Mummy Debate at the Carlos,” which explores the controversy surrounding displaying mummies at the Michael C. Carlos Museum and why Emory continued displaying mummies. Podcast Editor, Co-Host and Producer Ha-tien Nguyen (25C), Podcast Co-Host and Producer Kira Barich (25C) and Podcast Producer Nika Huang (25C) produce Wheel Talk. Last year, Wheel Talk also won first place in the “Podcast” category.
“Clifton Culture,” the Wheel’s arts podcast, was a finalist in the “Podcast (Conversational)” category. The series is produced by Managing Editor, Podcast Co-Host and Lead Producer Oli Turner (25C), former Arts & Entertainment Editor and Producer Eythen Anthony (23C), Podcast Co-Host and Producer Dashiel Tao Harris (25C), Podcast Producer Sarah Broder (24C), Podcast Producer Prerit Chaudhary (21Ox, 23C) and Podcast Producer and Web Desk Yashonandan Kakrania (26C).
Turner said that “Clifton Culture” spotlights student artists in music, writing, visual arts and performances through casual conversations about their work and inspirations.
Turner said the recognition of the podcast she and Anthony co-created feels “surreal.”.
“We started it as a small project and we weren't even sure that anyone would pay attention,” Turner said. “It's been amazing to be able to have the freedom to create something so tangible that people can listen to on Spotify and Apple podcasts and that we can share with our community.”
Editor-at-Large Eva Roytburg (22Ox, 25C) secured a finalist title in the “General News Reporting” category with “Oxford community reflects on relics of Confederacy.” The article featured students’ opinions on the presence of testaments to the Confederacy around Oxford’s campus.
Chupack said he was pleasantly surprised that the Wheel staff won so many awards and credited the Wheel’s success to its leadership this past year.
“Our staff is so incredibly talented, and especially the managing board pre-turnover were all very, very strong reporters, writers and leaders,” Chupack said. “I know they all helped their sections really do a lot of great coverage and a lot of great writing.”
Balarajan said she felt honored to win awards with her own writing and is proud to see the Wheel community write “incredible” stories.
“I was just really proud to see all of the writers that were able to just accomplish these awards and show how meaningful their work was,” Balarajan said.
