August 22, 2006

AWARD: SPJ First Amendment Award

SPJ honors Miguel Morales, Kevin Mimms and The Campus Ledger staff with First Amendment Award

INDIANAPOLIS–The Society of Professional Journalists is pleased to honor Johnson County(Kansas) Community College students Miguel Morales, Kevin Mimms and the staff of The Campus Ledger with a First Amendment Award.

The Society’s First Amendment Awards recognize individuals and groups for extraordinarily strong efforts to preserve and strengthen the First Amendment. The awards are open to individuals and organizations, and are not limited to journalists.

“The young men and women on the JCCC campus newspaper both shame and energize me,” Chartrand said. “They remind me that a free press is relevant only so long as it delivers the citizenry what it cannot get from government – namely an independent influence on public policy and an implacable voice that ask questions and question the answers.”

Morales, Mimms and The Campus Ledger staff will be recognized Saturday, Aug. 26 during the President’s Installation Banquet at the 2006 SPJ Convention & National Journalism Conference.