The Talisman, WKU’s life and culture magazine, won the 2025 Magazine Pacemaker on Saturday from Associated Collegiate Press, the premier honor for a student media outlet. It was the Talisman’s 23rd national Pacemaker Award.
The Talisman’s Pacemaker was awarded in Washington at MediaFest25, the convention of ACP, the College Media Association and the Society of Professional Journalists.
Both the Talisman and the College Heights Herald, WKU’s student-run news organization, were named the top Best of Show collegiate publications at the convention. The Talisman was named Best of Show feature magazine for its 18th edition, Connection, which was published in April. The Herald issue published Sept. 20, featuring an investigative report on engineering and construction flaws that have closed three residence halls, was named Best of Show for a student newspaper or newsmagazine.
The Talisman was also a finalist for the Multiplatform Pacemaker, which judges a publication’s work across print, online, newsletter, social media and audio and video platforms. The Herald was named a finalist for the 2025 Newsmagazine Pacemaker.
“These awards underscore the quality of journalism our students at WKU produce, some of the very best in the nation,” said Chuck Clark, director of WKU Student Publications. “We’re growing the next generations of professional journalists, and their work shows that student journalism is real journalism.”
The Talisman for 2024-25 was led by co-executive editors Cecilia Alali and Ragan Harrington, both May 2025 graduates; its current executive editor is Clarissa Dean, a senior from Pike County. The Herald for 2024-25 was led by Editor-in-Chief Price Wilborn, a May 2025 graduate; the current editor-in-chief is Jake McMahon, a Louisville senior.
Saturday’s announcement brings the number of Pacemakers won by WKU Student Publications to 51 since its first in 1978 for the Talisman, then a yearbook, and in 1981 for the Herald, then the campus newspaper. Of those 51 Pacemakers, 25 have been awarded to the Herald, 23 to the Talisman, two to Cherry Creative branded content studio and Student Publications Advertising, and one to Cherry Creative alone.
Since ACP’s founding in 1921, the Pacemaker has been the most prestigious award that a student media outlet can receive. Both the Talisman and the Herald are in the ACP Hall of Fame, and both were named in 2022 to The Pacemaker 100, the most successful student media outlets in the award’s history, with the Herald ranking No. 6 in The Pacemaker 100 Top 10.
WKU students also won these honors at the convention:
- First place, Best of Show Reporting for a News Story: Anthony Clauson of the College Heights Herald for “What Went Wrong?”, published on Sept. 20.
- First place, Best of Show Design for a Newspaper or Newsmagazine: Shelbi Bale, River Byrn, Jack Cheasty and Jake McMahon of the College Heights Herald for the issue of Sept. 20.
- Finalist, Student Freedom of Information Award from the Student Press Law Center and the Brechner Freedom of Information Project: Cameron Shaw, Price Wilborn, Anthony Clauson and Jake McMahon of the College Heights Herald for a variety of work using public records during 2024-25.
- Fourth place, Sports Game/Action Photo of the Year: Brodie Curtsinger of the Talisman for Soccer.
- Fifth place, Photo Slideshow of the Year: Lauren Howe and Kayden Mulrooney of the Talisman for “Welcome to our house.”
- Ninth place, Best of Show Website for a university of more than 15,000: WKUHerald.com.
- Honorable mention, In-Depth News Story of the Year: Cameron Shaw of the College Heights Herald for “What happened to Hilltopper Hall?”
- Honorable mention, Breaking News Story of the Year: Clarissa Dean of the Talisman for “We were not prepared: Bowling Green faces historic flooding.”
- Honorable mention, Illustration of the Year: Nike Harrington of the Talisman for Connection Horoscopes.