Student Publications News

The next generation of student leadership has been selected for WKU Student Publications.

Cecilia Alali and Ragan Harrington will serve as 2024-25 co-executive editors of the Talisman, a life and culture magazine and website.

Alali, a rising senior public relations major from Oklahoma City, is the current web writing editor for Talisman. She is also a magazine writer and a former web writer for the publication and is a member of the WKU Forensics team.

Harrington is a rising senior advertising and communication studies double major from Nashville, and is the current marketing manager for Talisman. She is a former Talisman photographer and web visuals co-editor for the publication.

Price Wilborn will serve as Fall 2024 editor-in-chief of the College Heights Herald news organization.

Wilborn is a rising senior from Shelbyville and is a political science, history and legal studies triple major. He is currently the commentary editor for the Herald, and joined the staff the first semester of his freshman year. Wilborn also is a member of the Spirit Masters student ambassador group.

The Talisman and Herald appointments were made by the Student Publications Committee, a university-wide group with 11 voting members representing students, faculty and staff at WKU.

The Student Publications professional staff selected the leadership for Student Publications Advertising and for the Cherry Creative branded-content studio.

Keelin Davis will serve as Fall 2024 advertising manager for the Student Publications Advertising sales team.

Davis is a rising senior from Mount Washington. He is a marketing major with a concentration in social media marketing and currently serves as the sales team leader for Student Publications Advertising.

Nicole Johnson will serve as 2024-25 director of Cherry Creative branded content studio.

Johnson is a rising senior marketing major with a concentration in strategic marketing. She is from Lexington and is the current design editor for Cherry Creative.

WKU Student Publications consists of four student-led areas:

• Talisman, a life and culture magazine that publishes a printed magazine twice a year, a website updated daily at WKUTalisman.com and a weekly email newsletter. It was founded as a yearbook in 1924.
• College Heights Herald, a news organization that publishes a daily email newsletter, a 24/7 website at WKUHerald.com and a monthly enterprise newsmagazine. It was founded as a campus newspaper in 1925.
• Student Publications Advertising, a sales team that works with clients who want to reach the WKU community. It started along with the Herald in 1925.
• Cherry Creative, a branded content studio that helps clients craft messages to reach the WKU community through all our publication platforms, special sections and special events. Our newest division, it was launched in 2018.

WKU Student Publications is one of the most honored student-run media groups in the country, amassing 47 Associated Collegiate Press Pacemaker awards since its first in 1978 for Talisman, then a yearbook, and in 1981 for the College Heights Herald. Since then, the Herald has won 23 Pacemakers; Talisman, 22; Cherry Creative, 1; and Cherry along with Student Publications Advertising, 1.

Both the College Heights Herald and the Talisman are in the ACP Hall of Fame, and are the only Kentucky-based student media outlets with that designation. Both also are among The Pacemaker 100, the most successful outlets in the century-long history of the Pacemaker Awards, with the Herald coming in at No. 6.

For more information, contact Chuck Clark, director, WKU Student Publications, at Chuck.Clark@WKU.edu or 270-745-4206.