For the first time in at least 50 years, the Associated Collegiate Press named The Hatchet a winner of its Pacemaker award. The Hatchet was one of 25 college newspapers in the country to receive the ACP’s top honor for the 2004-2005 academic year.

Judges selected Pacemaker winners based on a publication’s coverage, content, quality of writing and reporting, leadership on the opinion page, design and photography.

Other schools with winners include the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Northwestern University, the University of Kansas and Washington University in St. Louis. The ACP started giving out the Pacemaker in 1927. Daily newspapers, non-daily newspapers and community college publications are judged separately.

“This award carries great weight because it recognizes our strides in design, in addition to our excellence in writing and photography,” said The Hatchet’s editor in chief, senior Michael Barnett. “Every Hatchet staffer from last year and this year, in both the editorial and business offices, should take great pride in this award.”

“This award is also beneficial for GW, because it gives the school something else to hang its hat on,” Barnett added.

Hatchet senior editor Will Dempster received an honorable mention for the ACP editorial of the year award.

“It’s always encouraging to know that the hard work I’ve put in has been compared favorably to college editorials across the country,” Dempster, a senior, said.

In 2004, The Hatchet was named the best non-daily student newspaper in the nation by the Society of Professional Journalists. It was one of three finalists for the award this year.

-Marissa Levy