May 4, 2015

Last month, the Society of Professional Journalists recognized Royal Purple News section editors, sophomore Kimberly Wethal and freshman Emily Lepkowski, in the 2015 Mark of Excellence (MOE) Awards in Minneapolis.

The MOE Awards recognize the “best of collegiate journalism” from a calendar year. Region 6 comprises Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota.

Wethal and Lepkowski were finalists for their piece “On the chopping block: $250 million cut to UW system means $5.8 million loss for UW-W” which was featured in the Royal Purple’s September 16 edition.

“Budget cuts are a pretty big issue that we are facing, along with other universities,” Lepkowski said. “I think we did a really good job going around to all the different colleges and getting an in depth perspectives on how the cuts effect the UW System.”

When the article was published, Lepkowski was a new staff writer in the process of getting hired on as assistant news editor.
Wethal said the article was a good learning experience and review on how to properly conduct interviews and create an overall story structure.

Wethal was a finalist in the General News Photography category for her photo “Chancellor Kopper’s inauguration.”
“The photo of Chancellor Kopper is an iconic one for our paper,” Editor in Chief Vesna Brajkovic said. “It captured an important and historical moment for our university. There’s a reason you saw that photo on our front pages across campus, framed in the University Center, on the Royal Purple website and reposted all over social media.”

All entries are judged by professionals with at least three years of experience.

The Society of Professional Journalists is a national organization. UW-Whitewater’s chapter has been on hiatus for several years but Wethal, under adviser Dr. James Kates, hopes to start it back up for student membership by next semester.