BROOKINGS – The Collegian, South Dakota State University’s independent, student-run newspaper won four awards in the 2010 Region 6 Mark of Excellence Awards given annually by the Society of Professional Journalists.

This year, the contest received almost 4,000 entries.

Ryan Robinson, photo editor for the fall semester of 2010, won a first place in the general news photography category for his photo of the demolition of the Alpha Xi Delta house.

Caitlin Pisha, visual editor, received a first place award for her illustration of the $200,000,000 fundraising campaign initiative announced by the SDSU Foundation.

Ruth Brown, 2009-2010 managing editor, received a second place award for a story about students being denied access to crime logs by SDSU’s University Police Department. Brown currently works as a reporter for the Capital Journal in Pierre.

The Collegian received a second place for overall excellence among four-year non-daily newspapers.

The awards honor the cumulative work of The Collegian staff for the 2010 calendar year.

“We’re lucky enough to have a wonderfully talented staff, and that reflects in our final product,” The Collegian Editor-in-Chief Tony Gorder said. “I’m proud of the hard work we do and I’m proud we’ve been honored for it.”

The Collegian employs about 30 SDSU students as editors, designers, ad salespeople, reporters and photographers.

“We’re very excited to receive these awards,” The Collegian adviser Susan Smith said. “The staff at The Collegian works hard each week to make the current issue better than the last and this is a public acknowledgement, by our peers, that we are meeting and exceeding that goal.”

The honorees were awarded certificates on April 9 during the Region 6 SPJ Spring Conference held in Bloomington, Minn. First place regional winners will advance to the national round of judging. National winners will be announced in early May.

SPJ’s Region 6 is made up of newspapers from Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.