The Varsitarian, the University’s 98-year-old official student publication, won seven awards at the 2026 Apple Awards of the College Media Association (CMA), one of the United States’ top student media competitions.
This makes the Varsitarian the first student-led university publication from the Philippines and Asia to win in multiple categories in the CMA’s spring convention.
The V’s print issue, “Filipinos Declare: No to Corruption,” produced by Varsitarian editor in chief Chalssea Kate Echegoyen and layout editor Jed William Gocatek, and headlined by corruption-related stories led by Special Reports editor Ralent Penilla, won first place in the Best Newspaper category among Division 1 schools, or colleges and universities with at least 10,000 students.
The “Traslacion 2026: Black Nazarene procession in Manila draws millions” photo album by photographers Djenhard Sapanhila, Ethan Guisama, and Maximilian Briones, won first place in Best Feature Photography.
The Varsitarian website won first place in the Best News Website category.
The ad entry, “11th UST National Campus Journalism Award,” by ‘V’ art editor Aidan Caluyo, placed second.
The Varsitarian’s online coverage of the Thomasian walkout, where an estimated 1,500 students and faculty members marched across campus calling for accountability and justice over “ghost” flood-control projects, placed second in the Best Social Media Coverage of a Single Event category.
In the Best News Photography category, the album “Thomasians hold classroom walkout, snake rally vs corruption” by Varsitarian photographers Vio Neiro Villaescusa, Alexa Viray, and Chloe Elysse Ibañez, received honorable mention.
The Varsitarian’s UAAP Season 88 campaign, “UAAP IS HERE,” led by editor in chief Chalssea Echegoyen, sports editor Rob Andrew Dongiapon, and managing editor Karis Tsang, was given honorable mention in the Best Social Media Engagement category.
The Apple Awards, which drew 463 entries across 19 categories, is held as the “Best of Show” competition of the CMA spring convention, judged by media professionals across newspaper, magazine, broadcast, and website categories.
The awards were presented by CMA President-elect Georgia Kral at the closing ceremony of the CMA Spring National College Media Convention held on March 5 to 7 in New York City.
The CMA is one of the United States’ leading organizations in collegiate-level journalism, composed of college media advisers.
The Varsitarian, advised by journalists and journalism educators Lito Zulueta and Felipe Salvosa II, is an institutional member of the CMA.
In October 2025, the Varsitarian became the first student publication from Philippines and Asia to win in multiple categories of the Pinnacle Awards, the CMA’s top student media competition awarded during its fall convention.
