The Varsitarian launches first national campus journalism awards

MANILA, Philippines—The Varsitarian, the official student publication of University of Santo Tomas, launched the first ever journalism awards for campus organs in the Philippines.

The Thomasian paper, together with alumni and New York-based labor lawyer Julio Macaranas Jr., will give recognition to student journalists who have written exemplary works in feature writing, in-depth news, and editorial.

Macaranas said the award is his way of giving back to UST and to The Varsitarian.

“The extended time that I served in The Varsitarian during my entire four years in the Faculty of Civil Law has left an indelible imprint in my mind,” Macaranas said.

The UST National Campus Journalism Awards is open to all college and university publications, be it print or online.

Best In-Depth News should be a comprehensive report on any issue that are of utmost importance to students. The Best Editorial should reflect the paper’s knowledge and understanding on a current issue. Lastly, the Best Feature will give honor to the paper which profiled a person, group or institution.

“To get one of the awards, you have to really write well, do research, and give it an appropriate perspective and a very nice subject,” Macaranas said.

He added his experience with the UST paper helped him greatly for his studies in New Jersey’s Princeton University and New York’s Columbia University.

“They are quite aware that one who had served as editor-in-chief has various attributes to do well in an Ivy League school,” Macaranas said.

Deadline of entries is on Oct. 23, 2015 and will be announced during Inkblots, the annual campus journalism fellowship that The Varsitarian organizes.

Winners will receive P10,000 in cash, a trophy and medals.