Staff members from Piedmont University’s newspaper, The Roar, traveled to the University of Georgia on Friday, Feb. 28, for the Georgia College Press Association Convention. They heard from journalists across the state and obtained awards for their journalistic writing.
The Roar was a prominent name at the 2025 Georgia Press Association, winning 17 awards and sweeping the category for “Best Column” for the second year in a row.
“It’s good to see that we had students who were fairly new to The Roar win awards,” said advisor for The Roar professor Laura Hudgens. “It was nice to see that we had a diversity of award types with it being stories, photography, website, recognition, layout and more.”
As a collective, the newspaper won third-place for Best Website, third-place for Layout and Design Excellence and third-place for Best Campus Community Service in Sports.
The ceremony was highlighted by two staff members taking home first-place awards. Senior Paige Kluba received first-place for Best Editorial or Editorial Series, “The COVID Class Misfortune Continues.” Junior Michelle Cates won first-place for Best Photo Essay, “Kai Doyle’s 2nd Phase.”
In the Best Column category, junior Caylin Anderson placed third for “Bridge Books: A Better Deal for Students?”, Senior Ava Trankina and sophomore Savannah Ivie placed second with “The Buzz on Energy Drinks: Your Heart’s Worst Nightmare” and junior Michelle Cates took home first place for “Primetime News Coverage is Not Enough.”
Four Piedmont reporters were awarded second-place awards for their journalistic and photography work across varying categories. Listed below are the second-place winners from The Roar:
- Junior Angelica Lux – “Pride Walk Photo Story” (Best Photo Essay)
- Junior Jesse Smedley – “Worth the Watch? I’d Say So.” (Best Review)
- Junior Michelle Cates – “Photo Story: Nursing Students Learn Through Disaster” (Best News Photo)
- Sophomore Colin Hackshaw – “Student-Athlete” = Johnny Matrona” (Best Sports Story)
Several journalistic works from The Roar writers were awarded third-place across multiple categories. Piedmont’s third-place winners are listed below:
- Senior Paige Kluba – “Res Life Cracks Down on Banners” (Best General News Article)
- Senior Lainey Pettit – February 2024 (Best Entertainment Feature)
- Junior Caylin Anderson – “Yves Unleashed: A Deep Dive Into Her Latest Album ‘I Did’.” (Best Review)
- Sophomore Damyon Traylor – “On Par for Mental Health: Donovan Attributes Golf Success to Her Mentality On and Off the Course” (Best Sports Story)
- 2024 Alumni Chloe Spradlin – “The Microphone is His Paintbrush: Jarrett Ray Uses Show to Showcase Creativity with ‘Real Talk’.” (Best Entertainment Story)
The Roar looks to continue its success in journalism and photojournalism, bringing campus news to Piedmont University.
View all award-winning articles at https://piedmontroar.com/category/award-winning-articles/.
