Kansas State University

Collegian opinion writer wins national contest; two others win Gusewelle scholarships

Submitted by Collegian Media Group

Three Collegian staff members recently received honors.

Kyle Hampel, senior in English, Garden City, is a national winner in the Society of Professional Journalists' Mark of Excellence Awards, announced May 21. Hampel, who is the Collegian's opinion editor, won in the General Column category for large schools for three columns published in the Collegian in 2017. The winning opinion pieces are "What can K-State actually do to fight bigotry?"; "Witch-hunting does nothing to stop racism on campus"; and "The 'alt-right' movement is built on lies, misinformation." 

Runners-up are students at Northwestern and Texas State. To compete nationally, Hampel first had to win in the regional contest, whose winners were announced in April at Iowa State University.

Two more students won the C. W. Gusewelle Journalism Scholarship, named for the longtime reporter and columnist for the Kansas City Star.

Rafael Garcia, senior in mass communications and Spanish translation, Emporia, and Madison Obermeyer, senior in mass communications and French, Wichita, received the $2,000 scholarships. Garcia will return in fall 2018 as the editor-in-chief of the Collegian, a job he also had in the spring semester. Obermeyer has been a reporter for the Collegian for two years and studied abroad in England in the spring. Both Garcia and Obermeyer have reporting internships at the Wichita Eagle, funded in part by the Susan Edgerley and Lon Teter Journalism Internship Fund.

"It's hard to think of better student reporters and editors to win awards like these," said Steve Wolgast, Collegian adviser. "They are dedicated to telling the stories of K-State from a student's perspective, bringing in voices that aren't often heard on campus."

Gusewelle was a popular reporter and columnist for The Kansas City Star for more than 50 years. He was a first lieutenant in the Army's 82nd Airborne Division from 1956 to 1958. He became an editorial writer on foreign affairs topics in 1966 and foreign editor in 1976. Gusewelle left the foreign editorship in 1979 to become associate editor and columnist.

The scholarship, established in Gusewelle's honor by his readers and friends, encourages excellence in print and broadcast journalism. Winners are drawn on a rotating basis from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, the University of Missouri, Columbia, the University of Kansas and Kansas State University.