The Bradley Scout Returns from a Weekend of Success

A group of nine Bradley students who write for The Bradley Scout traveled to Chicago in February to attend the Illinois Press College Association (ICPA), an annual conference and award ceremony that recognizes the most skilled writers in the state.

Earlier this year, editors of The Scout submitted various articles in several categories including “Best Media Review” and “Best News Story.” A group of talented and experienced writers review the entries and announce the winners at the conference.

Last year, The Scout staff broke their personal record for most wins with 26 awards. This year, they came very close to matching this feat with 24 awards— an impressive display of expertise from our student newspaper.

Junior Madalyn Mirallegro, who serves as editor-in-chief, said, “I was so proud of our performance this year. Everyone on staff deserved it because they produce amazing work for us.”

Mirallegro and The Scout’s managing editor, junior Anaiah Davis, won second place in multimedia for their story about a reported bomb threat on campus last spring (which turned out to be a swatting incident). The article included student-captured video footage of the aftermath to illustrate the tension students felt. The reporters also provided updates as they received them.

“This was important to write about because it occurred in a central part of campus and affected everyone … our goal is to always provide accurate, timely and informative stories,” Davis said.

In addition to the awards ceremony, the ICPA conference offered workshops and lectures covering niche topics for students in attendance, such as how to make your writing more inclusive, tackling AI in the newsroom, and even a newspaper critique where writers get direct feedback from other universities.

“Writing for The Scout really challenges you to break out of your shell, learn about a lot of different things and talk to other people,” Davis said

“My goal for next year is to keep building on the work we have done this year. I want us to publish more hard-hitting articles that matter to the Bradley community whether it be in news, voice or sports,” Mirallegro said.

You can find more information about The Bradley Scout at student activity fairs and on social media.

— Rodrigo Trujillo