The Charger Bulletin Recognized by American Scholastic Press Association

The Charger Bulletin, the University of New Haven’s award-winning student-run newspaper, captured a first place honor in the American Scholastic Press Association’s 2020-2021 Scholastic Newspaper Awards. Judges recognized staff for their "creativity and journalistic knowledge," commending them for continuing to publish the paper despite the challenges of COVID-19.

"Your ability to keep your publication alive and printing during a pandemic is a testament to your dedication and devotion to your publication, school, community...and to each other," noted the judges.

The annual contest recognizes scholastic yearbooks, magazines, and newspapers. Prof. Susan Campbell, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, author, and adviser for The Charger Bulletin, praised staff who “never skipped a beat” during the pandemic.

Students reflect on the meaningful experiences they have had as staff members for The Charger Bulletin, as well as on what the recognition means to them.

Kayla Mutchler ’22, Editor-in-Chief

Being the editor-in-chief of The Charger Bulletin has been one of the greatest highlights of my life. I was elated to accept the position during the summer before my junior year. I promised myself that I would be dedicated to leadership and journalistic excellence, and to ensuring that my peers would have the best experience they could possibly have.

Last year, our team worked well together. Each writer and editor was more dedicated, and we all worked toward a common goal – providing the most accurate news to the University.

As the editor-in-chief, I lead the entire organization, create the newspaper in Adobe InDesign, and write and edit articles, among other duties. I have been involved with the newspaper since my first year, and each year has been better than the next.

Winning first place from the American Scholastic Press Association proves that each Charger Bulletin member possesses a strong work ethic, a commitment to excellence, and a drive to succeed. Leading such an outstanding group of individuals has been an honor, and words cannot describe how proud I am of this organization. Going into the 2021-2022 school year, I am confident that we can accomplish this again. Each week, we discuss plans for how to improve the newspaper and ourselves, and we are committed to accomplishing those goals.

In my final year at the University, I will continue to work to improve our paper with each edition, alongside the other phenomenal Charger Bulletin team members. We are currently redesigning the newspaper layout and switching to a weekly printing schedule, so make sure to check out the paper every Tuesday in the boxes around campus.

Amanda Castro ’22, Managing Editor

Being the managing editor of The Charger Bulletin, and being part of it as a whole, has been one of the biggest pleasures and accomplishments of my college career. Keeping the campus community informed on issues that take place at the University is something I’ve had my focus on since I became a contributing writer during the second half of my first year at the University of New Haven.

Having the opportunity to learn and grow as a leader and a professional among my peers and under the wing of our adviser Susan Campbell has allowed me to become a better journalist and person.

I have had the pleasure of working with many different students who have expressed their gratification when working with the Bulletin as writers, contributors, editors, and multimedia creators as we publish our best work. This is why I was incredibly elated when I found out about our American Scholastic Press Association first place win.

As student journalists, we must balance the responsibility of accurately and actively sharing news with the campus community with our academic responsibilities. The fact that we worked so well together to be able to receive such a high accolade is awestriking but unsurprising as we have worked hard to improve the publication with every passing day.

Our staff is incredibly happy and proud to be receiving this honor and we are determined to continue to grow as a trustworthy campus resource. As the right hand to our editor-in-chief, Kayla Mutchler, I cannot be more proud of what we have accomplished as a student news source.

Because of The Charger Bulletin, I have been able to determine that writing is something I am destined to do, and I will always be indebted to those at the publication who have enabled me to have such an important self-revelation. I’m sure that many of our staff members would say the same. The Charger Bulletin is a great place for students to be able to become involved on campus in a way that they have never been involved before. Anyone can write, and the Bulletin is the best way to showcase that skill.

Tiara Starks ’22, Entertainment Editor

I started as a contributing writer for The Charger Bulletin and was later appointed to entertainment editor in the beginning of 2020 just before the pandemic hit. I not only had to adjust to a new role, but I also realized, unsurprisingly, that trying to produce a weekly student paper during a pandemic is no easy feat. It was definitely a learning curve the first few weeks of quarantine.

We had to put in even more effort in order to get articles done on time. The fact that everyone on staff pulled their weight while also attending virtual classes and dealing with anything else that came up in our lives shows how passionate we are about the paper and being the only student-news organization on campus.

What made me even more proud of being part of the Bulletin was hearing about the American Scholastic Press Association Newspaper Award win. It was an incredible feeling! All of the work that the staff has put into the paper for the past year has been recognized by such a fantastic organization and we hope that the Bulletin continues to win awards in the future and have a long legacy of being a reputable news outlet for students of the University.

Winning this prestigious award goes to show that we succeeded in our goal and mission, and I think the most important thing is that we aren’t done. Joseph Klaus ’23

Joseph Klaus ’23, Sports Editor

This is now my second year on the staff of The Charger Bulletin as the sports editor. The most important thing about working with the Bulletin is that it isn’t just another club. This is, in fact, a big family.

We have succeeded because it’s not a “me” project, it's a “we” project. We are a family, and we help one another grow as individuals, students, and writers. Our hard work was repaid by winning the award, but that wasn’t the only goal. We worked to improve every week as writers, and to grow as people.

Winning this prestigious award goes to show that we succeeded in our goal and mission, and I think the most important thing is that we aren’t done. Yes, we won, but now it’s on to bigger things, figuring out what else can we do, and how can we do better.

This is why student news sources are so important. Colleges are a microcosm of the real world, and student news sources are there to report the news. This is where students learn. If you are working for the New York Times, and you mess up, you may be fired. In college, however, you are not fired. You are taught what you did wrong and how to do better next time. You’re still a writer. This is where good journalism is taught that you carry on to your future jobs.

If there aren't student news sources, then students are not getting the practice we need before entering the real world, where there is nobody to catch you.

Victoria Cagley ’22, Community Engagement Editor

I have had the amazing opportunity to work for The Charger Bulletin since my first semester at the University of New Haven. I was eager and ready to write and work alongside my peers to put together a fantastic newspaper.

During my second year at the University, I became the community engagement editor, which I have been doing ever since. As a senior, as I reflect back on my experience working as part of a such an amazing student organization, I know the hard work and effort I have put into it for the last three years have been worth it.

Being recognized and celebrated for our achievements is exhilarating and feels like finally crossing a finish line, but I know there is still so much to do. I love working on everything with The Charger Bulletin and connecting with the campus community in an effort to get the word out about the newspaper and our organization as a whole.

I’m so excited for what else is to come for The Charger Bulletin team and the goals that we can reach. Our exceptional work ethic and willingness to strive for more is what drives us every single week. I know that this award is just the beginning for the team and there is more greatness to come from our newsroom.

Kayla Mutchler ’22, Amanda Castro ’22, Tiara Starks ’22, Joseph Klaus ’23, and Victoria Cagley ’22 are communication majors at the University of New Haven.