The Columbia Scholastic Press Association [CSPA] honored Biola University journalism and art students with Gold Circle Awards for their work on Biola’s student magazine, The Point. The Gold Circle Awards are awarded annually to individual student journalists who create superior work for publications.

Biola students were recognized in the categories of writing, design, cartoon and photography. There are 243 entry categories, and more than 13,000 entries were received with only approximately 1,000 receiving awards.

Karin Hamilton, Emily Evans and Kevin Fox were all honored for their non-fiction writing. Hamilton won first place for a non-fiction column “Address from Capitol Hill,” and Evans and Fox earned a certificate of merit for their collaboration on the non-fiction article “Hitting All the Right Notes.”

“I was absolutely shocked when I found out about the award,” Hamilton said. “It was so exciting to see Biola gain recognition among so many prominent schools, especially from an article with such a clear Christian perspective.”

In the cartoon category Jared Norby won first place for his cartoon “The Change We Must Believe In.”

The photo on the magazine’s cover by Jeremiah Bonjean won second place in the category “a black and white or black and white with one other color photograph.”

Xiomara Hartzler and Sander Siswojo were honored with a certificate of merit for overall design of a general interest magazine. Sander Siswojo also received a certificate of merit for his work, “The significance of Solitude,” for his multi-page presentation in a special or general interest magazine.

“Biola journalism students are excellent at their craft,” said Tamara Welter, professor of journalism and faculty adviser for the magazine. “The Point magazine staff continues to raise the bar from semester to semester.”

The Columbia Scholastic Press Association is a program of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. CSPA was founded in 1925 with the goal to unite student journalists and faculty advisers.

The Point is a free publication that is written and distributed each semester by journalism students.

Written by Katherine Smith, Media Relations Intern. Jenna Bartlo, Media Relations Coordinator, can be reached at (562) 777-4061 or through email at jenna.l.bartlo@biola.edu.