WKU News

Talisman, WKU’s student-run life and culture magazine and website, has been awarded the Gold Crown, the top honor given by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association.

The honor was the ninth time Talisman has been awarded the Gold Crown by the CSPA, based at Columbia University in New York City. It was Talisman’s first Gold Crown as a hybrid magazine and website publication.

The Gold Crown honors work published during the 2016-17 academic year, Talisman’s first year as a magazine and website. Kylee Kaetzel, a May 2017 graduate from Santa Claus, Indiana, now working in New York City, was the editor-in-chief; Helen Gibson, a Cadiz senior who is the 2017-18 Talisman editor-in-chief, was website editor.

Talisman, founded in 1924, became a magazine and website in Fall 2016 after publishing 87 editions as WKU’s nationally acclaimed yearbook.

As a magazine, Talisman is published at the end of each semester. WKUTalisman.com is updated daily with an eclectic mixture of stories, photos, essays, videos, and other material.

In addition to its collection of Gold Crowns, Talisman has won 20 national Pacemaker Awards, considered the most prestigious award in collegiate journalism; two of those Pacemakers came in 2017 – one for the 2016 Talisman yearbook, its final edition as an annual publication, and one for the WKUTalisman.com website. Talisman’s printed magazine was a Pacemaker Finalist in that competition sponsored by Associated Collegiate Press.