The Collegiate Network awarded best magazine layout for the 2011-2012 school year to The Hillsdale Forum.
Sophomore Wes Wright, editor-in-chief of the magazine, and junior Spencer Amaral flew to Dallas, Texas, on Nov. 2 to attend the annual Collegiate Network’s Editors Conference, where they were presented with the award.
“The Hillsdale Forum received rave reviews from all in attendance,” Wright said. “The award is especially significant, because that was our first year in the magazine format. Basically, we’re awesome.”
The publication, a 24-page magazine of conservative political thought that publishes four or five issues a year, made the switch to its present full-color format last year.
The Forum beat out over 50 other conservative publications from around the country, including last year’s winner, the Harvard Ichthus, and other Ivy League contenders.
The Collegiate Network is a program of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute that provides financial and creative support for conservative campus newspapers and magazines; they seek to raise the level of campus discourse through these member publications.
“[The Editors Conference] draws together editors from each of our member papers for a weekend of journalistic training, mentoring from professional journalists, and fellowship with each other,” said Lillian Civantos, managing director of the Collegiate Network.
Speakers from many publications were present, including Jim Moroney, CEO/publisher of the Dallas Morning News and David Mills, executive editor of First Things.
Wright said he credits the design team of junior Lauren Wierenga, freshman Nathan Wilson, and sophomore Daniel Mummau with the Forum’s success in the magazine layout category, saying that they have already improved over last year’s designs.
In addition to conservative opinion essays, readers of The Forum can find lighter campus features like “Hillsdale Hunk & Hottie of the Month” and “Professor’s iPod.”
“We try to stay away from politics. Politics is momentary,” Wright said. “We try to place such temporary issues in the grand context of conservative thought.”
The Forum currently receives aid to help with printing costs, but Wright hopes to move to a fundraising and advertising-supported model soon.
