![Photo of award certificates](https://www.colorado.edu/cmci/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/article-image/spj9.jpg?itok=uyx_-6TD)
This weekend at the Society of Professional Journalists Region 9 Conference, the CU Independent received five awards. Four of them were top honors and will also compete for the national award in their respective categories, which will be announced in May.
2015 SPJ Mark of Excellence Region 9 Awards
Here are the awards that the CU Independent received.
- Winner, Best Digital-Only Student Publication
CU Independent Staff
- Winner, Online Opinion & Commentary
Ellis Arnold, CU Independent
For "The view on Ferguson, Mike Brown and America"
- Winner, Radio Feature
Patrick Fort, CU Independent
"Colorado Stories, Episode 4: CU at night"
- Winner, Online News Reporting
Lars Gesing, Gray Bender & Nigel Amstock, CU Independent
"Senator Undall visits CU on campaign trail"
- Finalist (runner-up), Online Feature Reporting
Patrick Fort, Kai Casey & Rob Denton, CU Independent
"People of 4/20"
CU News Corps student reporter Lars Gesing was also recognized by the SPJ:
- Finalist, Online In-Depth Reporting (two separate entries)
"Economic upturn might not be enough for Colorado Democrats in congressional midterms"
- Finalist, Online In-Depth Reporting (two separate entries)
"The party of non-voters: Meet Colorado's no-shows"
2015 Online Pacemaker competition
The CUI was also announced as a finalist by the Associated Collegiate Press (ACP) in the 2015 Online Pacemaker competition. The CUI staff are competing with just two other online-only student journalism news sources for this national award. The winner will be announced in November.
Congratulations, students!