Student work recognized at regional SPJ Mark of Excellence Awards

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Molly Shoffner, Brenna Witchey, Franny Vollert, Anna Gilboard, Peyton Perdue, Steph Colson, Jeff Shaw, Josh Maritz, Tori Lehman and Eli Voorhies with their awards at the SPJ regional conference on April 11, 2026. // Photo by George Erb

Four finalists will advance to national competition

Story by Hope Rasa

Western students walked away with 11 Mark of Excellence Awards during the Society of Professional Journalists’ (SPJ) regional conference at UW-Tacoma on April 11, 2026. This is the most awards Western has won during the competition’s 26 years.

Four first-place winners will advance to the national competition.

“We won a bunch of awards, which is awesome,” Eli Voorhies, a visual journalism alum who attended the conference, said. “It was fun congratulating each other and having our community there.”

Voorhies won a first-place in the personality profile writing category for a story he wrote for Klipsun. He isn’t planning to attend nationals, since it’s being held in Columbus, Ohio.

“It’s just nice that the work I did was recognized,” Voorhies said.

Tori Lehman, an environmental journalism student at Western and The Planet’s editor-in-chief, said she was nervous heading into the competition because she was worried that as a college journalist, she would be out of place. Instead, she arrived to find that the event was primarily attended by college students, and a majority of them were from Western. Lehman had also been concerned that the competition would be a lot more formal but was relieved to find the event was more low-key.

“I was worried, but that was very quickly squandered,” Lehman said. “Plus, I went with a lot of other people from The Planet, so that helped a lot with the nerves.”

Lehman, along with the rest of The Planet Staff, won the first place Mark of Excellence Award for best affiliated website. Lehman added that she wouldn’t have necessarily been bummed if The Planet didn’t win any awards at the conference because there are so many good publications in the region.

“I wouldn’t have felt like we were snubbed,” Lehman said, “but I do know that getting this kind of national and regional recognition is a big bonus for the [journalism] department.”

With so much loss of funding for higher education in the U.S. right now, Lehman said that she could imagine situations where student publications like The Planet aren’t crucial enough to warrant continued funding.

“There’s always that threat of losing funding, looming over us sometimes,” Lehman said. She said she thinks that winning the awards was important for the recognition alone, but it also shows the university that student publications are putting Western’s name out there and potentially drawing more students to the campus.

Alex Hodson, another Western journalism student who was a finalist in the regional political reporting category, said he plans to list his award on his professional resume, even if he doesn’t end up pursuing a journalism career.

“I think most people would probably say it’s about getting the work done, but I do think that recognition is important in any field that you work in,” Hodson said. “At least for me, it’s gratifying to know that what you’re doing matters, so, I do think recognition is important in journalism and the news/ed field.”

After placing as a top three finalist and not a first-place winner, Hodson said he wasn’t disappointed at all.

“It’s a big region, too,” Hodson said. “I was just happy to be there. It was cool to be nominated for them.”

SPJ Region 10 includes Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington.

In addition to the awards, the SPJ conference gave Western’s attendees opportunities to connect with and learn from other local journalists. The conference featured several speaker panels about topics such as covering transgender issues and reporting on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.

Instructor Jeff Shaw, who advises The Planet magazine, said that a lot of the students came this year because the material covered in these panels were so important. Thirteen Western students showed up even though only about half of them were up for awards. The others came to learn.

Shaw said that he, students on The Planet’s staff, and other members of the journalism department hope that attending the SPJ’s annual regional conferences becomes something they do more consistently.

Western students don’t always attend SPJ’s regional conference every year, mainly due to budget and travel concerns. For instance, last year Shaw attended the regional conference in Portland by himself to collect the Western student awards.

Shaw said it was a lot more fun having so many Western students attend this year. “No one of us is as smart as all of us,” Shaw said. “Having a bunch of young journalists from different backgrounds interacting, really helps build knowledge and skills for everyone. And so, I really hope we build an institutional culture where it is a fun and productive thing that we do every year, regardless of the awards.”

Winners: 2025 Regional 10 Mark of Excellence Awards (These regional winners advance to the national competition)

Finalists: 2025 Regional 10 Mark of Excellence Awards (These pieces all placed in the top three regionally)

For the full list of winners, visit Region 10 Mark of Excellence Awards announcement.