The Southerner was declared a 2021 Crown finalist for news by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association via the organization’s Twitter on Thursday, Dec. 3. The paper will be awarded either a gold or silver crown for its work during the 2019-2020 academic year at the CSPA convention in March.

The staff also received individual awards for their 2019-2020 stories. Senior Sam Huray and Class of 2020 alum Jessie Bouterse placed third in the non-fiction article category of the CSPA’s Gold Circle Awards for “Students Take Initiative to Learn About Gun Violence.” Class of 2020 alum Bram Mansbach received second place in sports commentary for “Cost of Sports Rises While Diversity Drops.” Senior Kamryn Harty garnered third place for “CrossFit Helps Teen Girls Gain Confidence” in the sports story category as a National Scholastic Press Association Story of the Year finalist.