aerial view of Western's campus at night facing northwest, with golden lights surrounded by dark trees

The Planet makes waves in national competition

by Ava Nicholas

University Communications intern

The Planet’s Spring 2024-Winter 2025 magazine was nominated as a finalist for the Associated College Press Pacemaker magazine competition. Art courtesy of The Planet.

In August and October of 2025, Western’s quarterly environmental magazine, The Planet, and Planet writer Josh Maritz both received honorable mentions in the Associated College Press Pacemaker and Story of the Year awards. 

In August of 2025, Western’s quarterly environmental magazine, The Planet, was announced as one of 16 feature/general audience publication finalists in the Associated College Press Pacemaker magazine competition for their Spring 2024–Winter 2025 edition, four of which went on to win the coveted prize. 

Josh Maritz’ article “Oh, Deer: Chronic Wasting Disease” published in The Planet’s Fall 2024 issue, received an honorable mention for the ACP’s Story of the Year competition. Art courtesy of The Planet.

The following October, Planet student writer and current story editor Josh Maritz’ article titled “Oh, Deer: Chronic Wasting Disease” published in The Planet’s Fall 2024 issue, received an honorable mention for the ACP’s Story of the Year competition.

Jeff Shaw, faculty adviser of the magazine, described the Pacemaker award as the Pulitzer Prize for college journalism, and The Planet hasn’t won one in 25 years.

“The student editorial team did a tremendous job, and it's a student publication, so as the adviser, I just give them the best advice I can. But the student editorial team really deserves the bulk of the credit here, along with the student writers, photographers, and multimedia journalists,” said Shaw. “We had outstanding editors-in-chief the last two years, Julia Hawkins and this year's editor-in-chief, Tori Lehman, who was managing editor last year. They did a great job with story selection, cultivating young reporters and helping them shape the stories.”

In 2024, The Planet was also named the “Best Ongoing Student Magazine” in the Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence competition. 

Only time will tell if The Planet will take the win in this coming year’s Pacemaker competition. But regardless, these awards are, according to Shaw, “a huge honor that these students should be very proud of.”

Ava Nicholas is the 2025-26 Tahlequah Intern, a paid internship made possible by a generous gift through The Foundation for WWU & Alumni and overseen by the Salish Sea Institute and the Office of University Communications. She is a Journalism-Public Relations and Theatre major, with an Honors minor.