For the second straight year, The Minaret won the Best College Newspaper Award, announced by the Florida College Press Association earlier in the week.

The staff, led by senior editor-in-chief Peter Arrabal, won six of the contest’s 18 awards, two of which were first-place finishes.

‘It is a testament to the quality of continuing leadership development of The Minaret, cemented by an experienced, dedicated advisor,’ Arrabal said.

The award partly covered the time when Steve Knauss was editor-in-chief. ‘I think that it is a great indicator that the resurgency of The Minaret is one that is not a temporary phenomenon, but shows a passion for journalism,’ said former editor-in-chief Steve Knauss (2007-2008). ‘That it has not been institutionalized, but it is here to stay.’

Kelley Bumstead received first-and third-place awards for best sports story. Cristobal Gomez won second place for best feature story, and Michelle Magner finished with a third place award for best feature.

All three students are senior Communication majors.

Moving up a spot from last year, The Minaret finished second for best front page.

Of the seven universities placed throughout the awards, UT led the way with six, Florida A’amp;M University followed closely with five and University of North Florida finished third with three awards.

The Minaret Online (http://www.theminaretonline.com) was awarded seventh place at the national Associated Collegiate Press awards in San Diego, Feb. 26 to March 1.

They finished just behind the sites of several prestigious dailies like UCLA’s Bruin and The Daily Californian from Berkeley.

Last year, the Historical Black Colleges and Universities organization named the thrice-weekly FAMUAN (FAMU) the top newspaper.

Also, University of North Florida’s Spinnaker placed seventh last month in the national Associated Collegiate Press awards for weekly tabloids.

UT’s enrollment is half the size of FAMU’s and a third the size of UNF’s, both of which have journalism majors.

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