Kent graduate wins national award as outstanding graduate in journalism

Erika Germer, a May 1998 journalism and mass communications graduate, has won the national Outstanding Graduate in Journalism Award from the Society of Professional Journalists.

Erika, was selected from 29 finalists from journalism schools around the country based on her character, scholarship and competence.

At Kent, she was editor of The Burr, budget/administration reporter and features editor of the Daily Kent Stater. She interned at Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine in Washington, D.C. After graduation, she was a new media intern at Atlantic Monthly in Boston and a free-lance fact checker for Fast Company magazine. She now works for Fast Company.

For her senior Honors project, she created an editorial concept, prototype and business plan for a new magazine, one for a new generation of high school teachers who soon will be replacing retiring teachers.

The Burr, of which Erika was editor in spring 1998, won the SPJ national award for Best Student Magazine Published More Than Once a Year for issues published in 1997. This is the third consecutive year The Burr has won the national award.

Burr wins national award for third year

The Burr, the student magazine at Kent State, has won the National Mark of Excellence Award from the Society of Professional Journalists for the third consecutive year. The category is Best Student Magazine Published More Than Once a Year.

The award, for issues published in 1997, was presented at the national SPJ convention in Los Angeles.

The winning editors are Keri Grubbs for spring 1997 and Ali Cybulski for fall 1997. Keri is now a sports reporter/presentation editor for the Naples (Fla.) Daily News. Ali is an assistant editor of Greenhouse Grower, a national magazine based in Willoughby, Ohio.

The judges were from the Colorado Professional Chapter. They commented that the issues of the magazine reflected "quality from start to finish. A great mix of stories, graphics and photos."