Editorial Division 1
Back
- Place Name: First Place
Contestant Name: Retrograde
Entry Title: We’re suing the UT System. Here’s why.
Entry Credit: The Retrograde Editorial Board
Judge Comment: The editorial stands out because it points to specific impacts of restricting speech on ordinary students, whether that is putting out a newspaper or expressing religious beliefs with a prayer. The summary of the law was put high in the piece so readers could get the gist quick. It was, or should have been, highly educational for students, or any reader, who cares about the First Amendment. The opinion of the Editorial Board was clear throughout the editorial. Including the reaction of the Board -- "we all looked at each other" -- differs from the traditional editorial voice, but this seemed to give the piece more life.
- Place Name: Second Place
Contestant Name: UT-Austin
Entry Title: The Campus Protection Act protects lawmakers, not students
Entry Credit: The Daily Texan Editorial Board
Judge Comment: The editorial made some key points - lack of hearings in the Texas House for the legislation, vagueness of enforcement, stripping colleges of their public forum status -- that were missing elsewhere. Those were important points that students and all readers should know. Given the immediateness of the events, the campus protests on the UT campus, this was certainly a piece that closely followed the news. The writers clearly expressed their editorial stance and made a convincing argument.
- Place Name: Third Place
Contestant Name: Texas State
Entry Title: Alter’s termination sets a dangerous precedent
Entry Credit: Staff
Judge Comment: Texas college teachers, and even college presidents, were clearly targets as of late and this editorial chose to defend a fired campus teacher and it does the job well. The trouble stems from the seeming lack of due process; including that point in the lede would educate the reader.
- Place Name: Honorable Mention
Contestant Name: A&M-College Station
Entry Title: Editorial: Drag is free speech too
Entry Credit: The Battalion Editorial Board
Judge Comment: None
- Competition Comment: The writers of these editorials took on some big topics: free speech, college presidents forced out of office, campus drag shows, lack of due process and generally heavy-handed politicians who want to run colleges and squelch voices with which they disagree. That made judging hard because so many of the pieces were of high quality and made cogent arguments. They were also, it should be said, impassioned which one would think would be part of compelling editorial writing.
