The Dec is set to hit downtown Chicago this weekend.

The ICPA (Illinois Collegiate Press Association) Conference will return on Friday, February 20th, and Saturday, February 21st, and the Decaturian staff will look to capitalize on the success achieved last year.

At last year’s conference, the Dec walked away with several awards:

Kemper Koslofski: First Place Sports Game Story, Second Place Sports Column, Third Place Sports News Story, and Honorable Mention News Sports Feature Story.

Anna Quick: Third Place Sports Feature.

Dana Granados: Third Place Headline Writing.

Ellie Fitzpatrick: Honorable Mention News Story.

The Dec Staff: Third Place General Excellence.

Each newspaper is allowed two entries per division, with categories ranging from news, sports, arts, and several others.
A wide variety of colleges and universities attend this event, with participation from universities as large as the University of Illinois to schools similar in size to Millikin. There are several different divisions, each one based on the size of the school that a given publication writes for.

This is an event that college newspapers all around Illinois look forward to every year, with extremely competitive entries ranging across every category. Staff writers and editors will have several chances to attend different conferences to help them sharpen their journalism skills before they graduate, creating a unique opportunity for students to gain insight from professionals.

Every Decaturian staff member has a chance to win an award for their work. If you are interested in publishing your work and voicing your opinion on the Dec’s website, join us for our weekly meetings at 5 p.m. every Wednesday in the Writing Center.