The Drake School of Journalism and Mass Communication placed seventh in the national Hearst Intercollegiate Writing Competition for 2020-2021.

The competition, often called “the Pulitzers of college journalism,” is a yearlong series of monthly contests in writing, photojournalism, audio, television and multimedia. Student winners earn points for their institutions. Three Drake students won writing awards this year in the categories of explanatory journalism and personality profile.

The competition is held in collaboration with the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication, and currently 104 programs are eligible to participate. Drake was one of the few private institutions to place in the contest and by far the smallest university. Other institutions that placed in the top 10 in the writing competition were Syracuse University, Indiana University, Arizona State University, University of Florida, University of Oklahoma, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Brigham Young University and Pennsylvania State University.

— Kathleen Richardson, School of Journalism and Mass Communication