WKU News

Talisman, WKU’s student-run life and culture magazine and companion 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 managing 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 twice a year, in late November-early December and in late April-early May. WKUTalisman.com is a popular culture website updated daily with an eclectic mixture of stories, photos, essays, videos, quizzes 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.

Talisman is published by WKU Student Publications, which also includes the College Heights Herald and WKUHerald.com newsroom.

Both the Talisman and the Herald, which has won 16 national Pacemaker Awards, are members of the Associated Collegiate Press Hall of Fame.

Contact: Chuck Clark, (270) 745-4206 or chuck.clark@wku.edu