The 2017 Ibis yearbook won 57 Gold Circle Awards or individual awards from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association at Columbia University.  

“This is an outstanding number of individual awards. I am proud of Kaitlin Castillo and her staff for producing a great University of Miami Ibis yearbook that is recognized nationally as well as on campus,” said Randy Stano, editorial adviser for the Ibis yearbook.

The Ibis brought home 24 first place awards out of 39 categories in the yearbook competition. The Ibis staff swept five categories by winning first, second, and third place in Alternative Story Form, Informational Graphics: single, Feature presentation, Student Life spread: multi-page spread, and Academic spread: one spread.

Beyond this, the 2017 Ibis was first place and the only winner in: Caption/Cutline Writing, Index, Division page design, Academic Spread: multi-page Spread, People spread with mug photos, People spreads without mug photos: multi-page spread.

“I can’t express how humbled and proud I am. My staff and I worked endlessly to create the best yearbook for our university and to see it recognized beyond our campus is immensely gratifying. I especially would like to thank our adviser, Professor Stano, for pushing us to new limits and being there for us every step of the way,” said Kaitlin Castillo, editor-in-chief of the 2017 Ibis.

“I am extremely honored to have our work recognized by CSPA and so proud to be a part of the Ibis family. Although we do it for the love of UM, winning these awards feels incredibly rewarding and reassuring. I am now even more inspired and motivated to continue doing what we do and hope we can continue to represent our university in this way,” said Casey Lue, design director of the 2017 Ibis.

In the digital part of the Gold Circle competition, Distraction magazine received four awards for www.distractionmagazine.com edited by Kami Kaundt and staff.

The Distraction awards were to Thalia Garcia for second place in Personal opinion: On-campus issues. Third place to Alex Goldman for Sports News, certificate of merit to Phillip Russomanno for Sports News, and a certificate of merit to Jorge Chabo for Entertainment reviews. 

“It is always good to see that the Distraction online staff is placing in writing competitions on the national level,” said Randy Stano, Distraction editorial adviser.

To view the full list of winners, please visit http://cspa.columbia.edu/recepient-lists/2018-awards-student-work-gold-circle-awards-collegiate-recipients.