Bucks County Community College’s (BCCC) Centurion newspaper won 16 awards in the 2025 Keystone Student Media Awards Contest, bringing tally to over 200.
BCCC’s student newspaper, The Centurion, which has been launching journalism careers for more than 60 years, has won 16 awards in the 2025 Keystone Student Media Awards contest, including first place in ongoing news coverage, public service reporting, feature writing and website.
Since 2010, The Centurion has won more than 200 awards in the contest run by the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association. It competes in Division III, which represents community colleges across Pennsylvania.
The students received their awards at the Student Keystone Media Awards Luncheon on Thursday, April 3, at WITF’s Public Media Center in Harrisburg, Pa.
The Centurion won awards for, among other things, coverage of the 2024 presidential election, the search for a new president at the college, a series of articles about the challenges facing working students, a solar eclipse that dazzled millions of Americans, and a visit to the campus by a group of Tibetan monks.
In addition to written works, the paper won first place in the Cartoon-Graphic Illustration category for a comic strip called “Dog Life,” first in Feature Photos for pictures of the visiting monks, first in Layout and Design and first in the Video Story category for a report about the hidden underground history of Tyler Hall, the historic mansion located in the heart of the Newtown campus.
The Centurion also won the contest’s sweepstakes honor, given to the paper that wins the most awards in its division.
Centurion editor in chief Kassandra Castillo, who is credited on four of the awards, said it has been inspiring to be associated with a student-run school newspaper.
“I’ve been working on The Centurion for two semesters and I’ve learned so much in the process,” said the journalism major. “Print and online media hold so much relevance in our world, and I’m honored to be joining a field where we bring community engagement while spreading local news.”
Tony Rogers, BCCC’s journalism professor and faculty advisor to the student newspaper, said he couldn’t be more proud of his students.
“Most of the students on The Centurion take a full load of classes and work jobs outside school, yet still manage to do award-winning journalism,” said Rogers. “Even after 27 years as a professor here, I’m still amazed by their seemingly boundless energy, creativity and dedication.”
Click here for more information on the journalism program at BCCC.
Click here to check out the website for the award-winning Centurion.
Click here for a list of the 2025 Keystone awards.