Student Publications News

WKU Student Publications has announced the 2024-25 honorees of its two highest awards for alumni and an award for an outstanding supporter of the program.

Tessa Duvall is the recipient of the 2024-25 College Heights Herald Award for Outstanding Contributions to Journalism. Duvall, a 2013 WKU graduate and former editor-in-chief of the College Heights Herald, is public affairs editor at the Lexington Herald-Leader. She is a two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2021 for her coverage of the death of Breonna Taylor and its aftermath and was a member of the team who covered former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin’s controversial pardons during his last days in office, which won the Pulitzer Prize for breaking news in 2020. She is the 72^nd winner of the Herald Award. You can read more about Duvall and the award here: https://wkustudentpubs.com/herald-award-for-2024-25-tessa-duvall/

Melony Jones Shemberger is the recipient of the 2024-25 Talisman Award for Outstanding Contributions in Communications. Shemberger, a 1993 graduate of WKU and former staffer for the Talisman and the College Heights Herald, is a professor of journalism and mass communications at Murray State University, where she also serves as the faculty regent on the university’s Board of Regents.  She is the 27^th winner of the Talisman Award. You can read more about Shemberger and the award here: https://wkustudentpubs.com/talisman-award-for-2024-25-melony-jones-shemberger/

Leslie M. Watkins is the recipient of the 2025 Friend of Student Publications Award. Watkins, a WKU alumna, played the central role in an effort with Student Publications alumni to raise money to build the $1.7 million Adams-Whitaker Student Publications Center, which opened in 2008, and to establish the successful Student Publications Fellowships program, the only one of its kind in the country. She is the fourth winner of the Friend Award. You can read more about Watkins and the award here: https://wkustudentpubs.com/friend-award-for-2025-leslie-m-watkins/

All three awards will be presented at the WKU Student Publications Centennial Weekend celebration, April 25-26, marking a century of excellence for WKU’s flagship student-run publications, the College Heights Herald and the Talisman.

Those wishing to attend the Centennial Weekend celebration can register by no later than April 4 at https://alumni.wku.edu/centennialweekend.

WKU Student Publications is celebrating a century of excellence, with the Talisman founded in 1924 as a yearbook and the College Heights Herald publishing its first edition on Jan. 29, 1925. It is one of the most honored student-run media groups in the country, amassing 50 Associated Collegiate Press Pacemaker awards, the highest honor in student media, since its first in 1978 for Talisman and in 1981 for the College Heights Herald. Since then, the Herald has won 25 Pacemakers; Talisman, 22; Cherry Creative, 1; and Cherry along with Student Publications Advertising, 2.