The Society of Professional Journalists announced the national winners of the 2008 Mark of Excellence Awards, recognizing collegiate work published or broadcasted during 2008.

Recent graduate Thor Nystrom won first place in two of the national SPJ Mark of Excellence Award categories. His article, “Both Sides of the Scalp,” took first place in the sports category and his piece, “To Hell and Back,” took first place in the feature category. Brenna Hawley, senior, was designated a national finalist for her article, “Parched Future of the Plains.”

This year, student journalists submitted more than 3,600 entries in 39 categories.

National winners and finalists were previously recognized by receiving first place in one of the SPJ’s 12 regional competitions. Each first place regional winner advanced to the national competition. In April, SPJ recognized six Journalism students and recent grads with nine 2008 SPJ Region 7 Mark of Excellence awards. First-place regional winners, Brenna Hawley, Wendy McCart, Thor Nystrom and Alex Parker, advanced to the national round of judging.

“When we see the talent and success of these students, we have reason to be optimistic about the future of journalism,” Journalism Dean Ann Brill said. “The awards are especially meaningful knowing the caliber of the competition.”

"These Mark of Excellence Awards winners are some of the best journalists coming out of colleges today,” Neil Ralston, SPJ’s vice president for campus chapter affairs, said. “I believe they represent a lot of hope for the future of journalism in America, and SPJ is honored to recognize them for their excellent work."

Journalism students have continued to win many major awards this year.

"Thor's own story, To Hell and Back, may have become the most honored story ever written by one of our students for The University Daily Kansan,” Journalism Professor Ted Frederickson said. “It won him first in the Rolling Stone College Journalism Contest, second nationally in the Hearst Journalism Awards Feature Category and now has been proclaimed by the Society of Professional Journalists to be the best feature writing by a college student this past year. Winning first in the sports writing category with his depth story on KU's crackdown on scalping shows that he is a talented reporter and writer whatever the subject. That talent has gotten him accepted into the nonfiction writing masters program at the University of Iowa, which is nationally known for its prestigious graduate programs in writing."

"Brenna's story was a classic piece of depth reporting that localizes a global story—in this case, global warming,” Frederickson said. “She tracked down experts in many different disciplines to document how increasing temperatures will change the varieties of trees, plants, birds, mammals and even fish we will see as the climate changes."

The Society of Professional Journalists works to improve and protect journalism. The organization is the nation’s most broad-based journalism organization, dedicated to encouraging the free practice of journalism and stimulating high standards of ethical behavior. Founded in 1909 as Sigma Delta Chi, SPJ promotes the free flow of information vital to a well-informed citizenry; works to inspire and educate the next generation of journalists; and protects First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and press. For more information about SPJ, visit www.spj.org.