Protesters sit during the No Kings 2.0 Protest on Old Main Lawn on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025, in University Park. This is the Student Keystone Media Awards honorable mention winner by photographer Geraldine Cruz.
Reporting on the closure of seven Commonwealth campuses has earned The Daily Collegian a first-place in the 2026 Student Keystone Media Awards for Division I schools. Overall, the Collegian had six honors in the competition sponsored by the Pennsylvania News Media Association.
Pragya Sinha, Teresa Phelan, Alexandra Antonio, Noah Aberegg, Alex Fischer and Mia Lopez were contributors to the coverage of the university’s May 2025 decision to close seven campuses after the 2026-27 academic year due to declining enrollment and financial pressures.
This is the second consecutive year that the Collegian has won the Ongoing News Coverage category.
Other Collegian awards:
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Noah Aberegg, second place for Public Service/Enterprise Package for his investigation, “‘It’s a disgrace, it’s embarrassing’ | Fencers express concerns with coach Matteo.”
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Teresa Phelan, second place in Editorial for her piece, “Penn State campus closures undermine its land-grant mission.”
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Elbia Vidal Castillo, second place in the Column category for her work on “Cultural diversity isn’t a threat, but the foundation.”
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The Collegian, second place for Layout and Design of the Hispanic Heritage Month Edition newspaper. On the team: Geraldine Cruz, Kahlie Wray, Jonathon Chiu, Mercedes Hamilton, Andrew Deal and Teresa Phelan,
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The Collegian, second place for Excellence in Reporting on Diversity-Equity and Inclusion for its work on celebrating Hispanic culture at Penn State. Jonathan Chiu, Geraldine Cruz, Mia Debelevich, Elbia Vidal Castillo, Herley Gong and Noah Aberegg produced stories for this award.
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Geraldine Cruz, honorable mention in the Photo/News category for one of her photos at a No Kings Protest in State College.
Submissions by Penn State Student Media, the overarching organization for content produced by students in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications, earned 14 first-place awards, six second-place and seven honorable mentions. Of the total, Centre County Report, the student-produced newscast, had nine: four firsts, two seconds and three honorable mentions.
The full list of Student Keystone Media Awards can be found here.
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