Pinnacle Awards 2020-21

UPDATE 10/19/2021– The College Media Association has announced the Pinnacle Award winners, and The Beacon placed in several categories:

First Place – Best Feature Story (Carlos Fuentes)

Second Place- Best Arts and Entertainment Story (Havi Stewart)

Second Place- Best Photo Package (Molly Lowney)

Third Place- Online Breaking News Coverage (William Seekamp, Andrew Gotshall, Havi Stewart, Ryan Reynolds, Molly Lowney)

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Several Beacon pieces from the last academic year are finalists in the Pinnacle Awards, a national collegiate competition sponsored by the College Media Association.

Best Breaking News Coverage

Last February’s multimedia coverage of the massive power outage that hit the UP campus is a finalist in the category of Best Breaking News Coverage.

Many Beacon staffers, including the editor-in-chief (Gabi DiPaulo) and the news and managing editor (Austin De Dios) had no electricity, heat, wifi or phone service at the time.

Then-sports editor William Seekamp took on the leadership challenge and moved to another location so he could coordinate news coverage, with help from Havi Stewart, Andrew Gotshall, Ryan Reynolds and Molly Lowney.

The breaking news coverage included a video by Andrew Gotshall about the Bon Appetit staff’s efforts to feed cold, hungry students in The Commons, even those who lived off campus.

The power outage coverage included many elements besides lack of electricity. One student was temporarily trapped in a dorm elevator. Pipes burst and caused flooding in another residence hall.

Best Photo Package

Molly Lowney is a finalist for Best Photo Package. Her photos accompanied Havi Stewart’s profile of a student who had undergone cancer treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Best Feature Story

Carlos Fuentes is a finalist for Best Feature Story for his piece about the challenges professors with children faced while teaching from home

Best Arts and Entertainment Story

Havi Stewart’s profile of a UP graduate student who also happens to be the “reigning world air guitar champion” is a finalist for Best Arts and Entertainment story.

The College Media Association will announce the winners at its (virtual) convention in mid-October.

To see all finalists for Online Pinnacle Awards, go here.

To see all finalists for Writing Pinnacle Awards, go here.

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Activities Fair 2021- The Beacon booth

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Beacon Boot Camp 2021

For the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic shut down UP’s campus in March 2020, The Bluff came alive with a full crop of students and in-person learning for fall 2021 semester.

Beacon Boot Camp training was on campus for the first time since fall 2019, but with added precautions. Whenever possible, we held our training sessions in a tent on The Bluff. It was so pleasant that many wondered why we hadn’t thought of that before.

For sessions that needed technology, we had a large classroom in Shiley Hall, which allowed for social distancing. Still we wore masks there to minimize risk.

Scenes from Beacon Boot Camp 2021

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Editorial Board 2021-22

Editor-in-Chief Austin De Dios

News & Managing Editor William Seekamp

Living Editor Havi Stewart

Opinion Editor (fall) Mia Werner

Sports Editor (fall) | Opinion Editor (spring) Sadie Wuertz

Copy Editor/Sr.Reporter Carlos Fuentes

Multimedia Editor Brennan Crowder

Community Engagement Editor Brie Haro

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