Tower among best collegiate yearbooks for third consecutive year, student media claims Best in Show awards at national conventions

Northwest Missouri State University’s Tower yearbook was recognized March 9 by Associated Collegiate Press (ACP) as one of three Pacemaker Award recipients, crowning it as one of last year’s best college yearbooks and making it a winner of the award for the third consecutive year.

The cover of the 2023 Tower yearbook

Tower joined yearbooks produced in 2023 by staffs at the University of Miami and Baylor University as Pacemaker recipients announced during the ACP Spring National College Media Conference in La Jolla, California.

“I am just monumentally impressed and proud of the work our students produce on a continuing basis,” said Steven Chappell, director of Student Media at Northwest. “For us to achieve this three straight years is a monumentally difficult task, and it’s our first three-peat as a Pacemaker winner.”

First published in 1917, the Tower yearbook annually documents campus life and personalities through writing, photography and design. The 2023 Tower adopted “This is Northwest” as its theme in recapping the 2022-2023 academic year at the University.

All collegiate yearbooks produced during the 2022-23 academic year competed against each other. A team of three nationally recognized judges selected six Pacemaker finalists before selecting the three award recipients.  

ACP began presenting the prestigious Pacemaker Award to collegiate newspapers after the organization’s founding in 1921, making it one of the oldest awards for collegiate journalism. In the years since, yearbooks, magazines and websites were added to the competition.

Additionally, Tower and The Northwest Missourian student newspaper garnered multiple Best in Show awards at both the ACP convention and March 16 at the College Media Association (CMA) Spring National Media Convention in New York City.

At the ACP convention, the Missourian earned seventh place in the Advertising Media Kit category, fourth place in Best Newspaper and third place in Best Website. Tower earned second place in Best Yearbook.

At the CMA convention, The Missourian earned first-place awards in the categories for Best Editorial and Best Multimedia Package while Tower earned first place in Best Yearbook Spread and third place in Best Yearbook Cover. Additionally, Hannah Claywell received an honorable mention for Best Opinion Column as a member of The Missourian.

Both the Tower yearbook, now a 13-time Pacemaker recipient, and The Northwest Missourian, a two-time Pacemaker recipient, are members of the ACP Hall of Fame.