OBU’s Ouachitonian yearbook earns national Gold Medalist award

ARKADELPHIA — Ouachita Baptist University’s 2016-2017 Ouachitonian yearbook earned a Gold Medalist award and All-Columbian Honors from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association in its annual College Yearbook Critique. Robert DeSoto,

a 2017 mass communications and Spanish graduate from Sheridan, and Amber Easterly, a 2017 mass communications and business administration/marketing graduate from Bryant, served as co-editors-inchief of the book. Andy Henderson, a senior mass communications major from Royse City, Texas, served as photo editor.

The CSPA critiques and offers instruction on how to improve student newspapers, magazines, online media and yearbooks by recruiting adviser-judges from across the U.S. The advisers judge publications on three categories: reference, verbal and visual. The CSPA is housed at Columbia University and is considered one of the premier student-publications organizations in the nation.

“Our students produce outstanding work, and we have a strong reputation among the best college yearbooks in the nation,” said Deborah Root, faculty adviser for the Ouachitonian and chair of Ouachita’s Rogers Department of Communications. “I’m proud of our students and their hard work in producing a quality publication. It provides a learning experience for our students, and their perseverance and dedication paid off.”