"The Lens" magazine, a new student publication from Carleton College, received national honors in recent critiques from the National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA) and the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA). "The Lens," an entirely student-produced magazine of politics and culture, is still in its first year of publication.
After reviewing the magazine’s three issues, CSPA and NSPA reviewers rated it Gold Medalist and First Class, respectively. In addition, "The Lens" received All-Columbian Honors in content and design from CSPA, and Marks of Distinction in content, writing and editing from NSPA. The magazine will go on to compete with other publications across the country for the Crown and Pacemaker Awards, given out by the CSPA and NSPA, respectively, the highest honors available to collegiate publications.
Both associations were particularly impressed to find such a high-quality new magazine. “Your articles have been smart, creative, and engaging,” wrote one NSPA reviewer. “I would have never known that your publication was completely run by students, and that it was so young.” A CSPA reviewer wrote, “It looks like a publication with a long tradition of quality work. Very impressive.”
"The Lens" was founded in October 2005 by Carleton students Taylor Valore ’06, now an administrative intern at the American University in Cairo, and Anna Duchon ’08, a sociology/anthropology major from Decatur, Georgia. With the support of Carleton students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends, "The Lens" has become a nationally distributed interdisciplinary magazine read across the United States.
“We’ve certainly come a long way in the past year,” says co-founder Duchon, now chief design editor. “The 80-plus students on our staff have worked hard to produce a product that fills an important niche at Carleton.” In March 2006, Lens staff attended an NSPA newspaper conference, earning a “best of show” award.
The next issue, to be published in January, has as its theme “behind closed doors.” For more information and to subscribe, visit the magazine’s website at www.thelensmagazine.com.
