About Us
The Athenaeum (Athe-a-nee-um) has a long tradition of serving the students, faculty and staff of West Virginia University.
The publication began as a literary magazine when classics were popular in college study, hence the name which refers to the forum in ancient Athens where oratory and debate took place. The Athenaeum celebrated its centennial in 1987 with publication of a special edition.
Soon after journalism instruction began at WVU in the 1920s, the journalism faculty took over supervision of the Athenaeum, utilizing it as a laboratory newspaper to help teach writing, editing and advertising. The publication took on the appearance of a newspaper and became a weekly. Within a year or two, it became a semi-weekly and soon appeared three times a week. It assumed daily status (five days a week) in 1933.
Over the years, the Athenaeum improved and grew larger, and hundreds of journalism students worked as its reporters and editors. In the 1960s, however, the paper had reached a point where it demanded too much of the faculty’s and students’ time. Also, with the advent of offset printing, the paper had to set up production facilities and paste up pages.
So the Athenaeum parted company with the School of Journalism, and in 1970 became independent. A full student staff works on the paper with five non-student employees at management-business level.
Before the Athenaeum left the School of Journalism, it dropped back to a four-day-a-week publication, but resumed five-day publication in 1987. In May of 1994, The Daily Athenaeum moved into a new facility located at 284 Prospect Street. A special Building Fee funded construction of this facility.
The DA is now a 24/7 digital-first media organization that includes print, online, video and podcasting. On Mondays 15,200 copies of the DA are distributed on campus and inserted in the Dominion Post in Monongalia and Preston counties. The Thursday edition of the DA is distributed to 130 locations around Morgantown and has a pick-up rate of 90%. During the academic year, theDAonline.com has more than 4,500 visitors daily. The DA is proud of its role as a watchdog for the WVU community and of the generations of students who have honed journalistic, business and leadership skills at the DA.
Awards 2019 -2020
Society of Professional Journalists Green Eyeshade Award
First place, Best Student News Reporter, Joe Severino
(Award honors student journalists in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina,
South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia.)
College Media Association
Distinguished Adviser Award
Adell Crowe, Four-Year Newspaper Adviser
Pinnacle Awards
Editorial
Third Place, Breaking News, Rock fall on Mon Boulevard, Duncan Slade and Douglas Soule
West Virginia Press Association
Advertising (Division III, Weeklies over 4,000 circulation)
First place, Best Process Color Ad Larger Than A Half Page, "Prospect and Price Creative", Maggie McLister
First place, Best Recruitment Ad, "Interested?", DA News Team
First place, Best Online Motion Ad, "Bent Tree Ticker", DA Sales and Production Team
First place, Best Newspaper Promotional Campaign, "Prospect and Price Creative", Maggie McLister
Second place, Best Process Color Ad Larger Than A Half Page, "The Domain - Floorplan to Future", Hannah Williams
Third place, Best Process Color Ad Larger Than A Half Page, "Mylan Park The Aquatic", Hannah Willams
Third place, Best House Ad, "DA Valentine's Day Promo", Hannah Williams
Third place, Best Recruitment AD, "Join The DA", Hannah Williams
Third place, Best Theme Page Classified, "Mountaineer Messenger", DA Classified
Third place, General Excellence in Advertising (statewide for Division III, Weeklies over 4,000 circulation)
West Virginia Press Association
Editorial (Division III, Weeklies over 4,000 circulation)
First place, Best Sports Event Reporting, "The reason why Holgorsen left breaking down his WVU, UH Contracts", John Lowe, Jared Serre
First place, Feature Photography, "A woman plays with a dog at Coopers Rock", Tim Shaw
First place, Sports Photography, "Iowa State's Lawrence White and West Virginia's Winston Wright Jr. fight for ball", Duncan Slade
Second place, Best In-Depth or Investigated Reporting, "Evaluating pedestrian safety in Morgantown one year after student death", Joe Severino
Second place, Best Special Section, "April Fools' Edition", DA Staff
Third place, Best In-Depth or Investigative Reporting, "Nolan Burch wrongful death and settlement", Joe Severino
Third place, Best Illustration, Cartoon or Graphic, "Throwdown in Morgantown", Staff
Society of Professional Journalists (Regional)
Finalist, Sports Photography, Duncan Slade
Finalist, Editorial Writing, Douglas Soule
Finalist, DA Staff, General News Reporting
Awards 2018 -2019
Associated Collegiate Press
Best in Show - ACP/CMA Conference 2019
Fourth place, Large School Website
Tenth place, Large School Newspaper
Columbia Student Press Association, Columbia University
Gold Circle Awards
Certificate of Merit, In-depth News Story, "WVU Loan Default Rate the Highest in the Big 12", Alayna Fuller
Certificate of Merit, Informational Graphic, "The High Cost of Being Greek", Haleigh Holden
Columbia Student Press Association, Columbia University
Gold Medalist
College Media Association Pinnacle Awards
Advertising
Finalist, Best Ad Campaign, Chateau Royale
Finalist, Best Display Ad, Prospect and Price Creative
West Virginia Press Association
Advertising (Division III, Weeklies over 4,000 circulation)
First place, Best Agency Advertisement, "Puppy Pilates", WVU Medicine Creative Staff
Second place, Best Agency Advertisement, "Drinking Buddy", Clara Warner
Third place, Best Process Color Ad Half Page or Less, "Greek Life", Hannah Williams
Third place, Best Special Section, "Housing", DA Staff
West Virginia Press Association
Editorial (Division III, Weeklies over 4,000 circulation)
First place, Best Special Section, "The DA's Most Influential", Staff
First place, Best In-Depth or Investigative, "Child-care assistance program", Joe Severino
Third place, Best Governmental Affairs Reporting, "WVU loan default highest in Big 12", Alayna Fuller
Third place, Best Single Issue, Nov. 5 "Horns Down", Staff
Third place, Best Newspaper Design, Staff
Third place, Best Sports Event Reporting, "Simmons' touchdown a long time coming", Chris Jackson
Society of Professional Journalists (Regional)
Finalist, Sports Columns, John Lowe
Finalist, Sports Writing "Mountaineers Love Beer", Douglas Soule
Finalist, Breaking News, Jordyn Johnson, Joe Severino, Douglas Soule
College Media Association, Best of Show Awards
Websites, Large Schools (More than 10,000 students)
Fifth Place, thedaoinline.com
BestSchools.com
Ranked 8th most influential college newspaper 2018
Awards 2017 -2018
Society of Professional Journalists (Regional)
Finalist, Sports Photography, Ryan Alexander
West Virginia Press Association
2018 Advertisement of the Year, "Panera Delivers" by Brooke Marble
Advertising (Division III, Weeklies over 4,000 circulation)
Third place, Overall General Excellence in Advertising, Staff
First place, Best Agency Ad, "What's at the end of your straw?", WellWVU Creative Team
First place, Best Recruitment Ad, "The DA is now hiring", Staff
First place, Best Single Newspaper Online Promotional Ad, "Color Your Campus", Staff
First place, Best Special Section, Graduation Edition, Staff
First place, Best Online Motion Ad, "Panera Delivers", Brooke Marble
Second place, Best Classified Section, Staff
Second place, Best Newspaper Promotional Campaign, Staff
Third place, Best House Ad, "Coloring Book Winner", Staff
West Virginia Press Association
Editorial (Division III, Weeklies over 4,000 circulation)
First place, Sports Photography, "Wide receiver Gray Jennings is tackled in the air", Ryan Alexander
Second place, Sports Photography, "Pascal Derwaritsch makes a place for the ball", Tristian Wright
Second place, Best Sports Columnist, "Chris' Corner", Chris Jackson
Third place, Best Sports Feature, "Molded by experience, Mazzulla is humbled to live the dream.", Chris Jackson
Third place, Best Special Section, "Over the years." Celebrating 150 years of WVU, Staff
Third place, Best Coverage of Breaking News, "Man follows WVU student to her car, makes demands.", Douglas Soule
Awards 2016 -2017
Associated Collegiate Press Newspapers Pacemaker Awards
Winner, Best Newspaper
Honorable Mention, Newspaper Page One Design of the Year
Individual Writing Awards
Honorable Mention, Caity Coyne, Best Breaking News Story for "Baker arrested two months before resignation, pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct."
Honorable Mention, Adrianne Uphold, Best News Package category for " Naloxone: A second chance at life."
Advertising
Winner, Best Online Ad, Jackson Montgomery, Best Online Ad, Rt. 7 Auto Repair
Second Place, Staff, Best Social Media Strategy, Thankful Tree
Honorable Mention, Jackson Montgomery, Best Display Ad, Chateau Royale
DesignSecond Place, Staff, Best Newspaper Nameplate
Editorial (Division II, Dailies with less than 16,000 circulation)
First place, Best Front Page, Andrew Spellman, "Under Rated, Under the Radar, Under Dawgs"
First place, Best Single Issue, staff, "We are one WVU"
First place, Feature Photo, Ryan Alexander, cover of the mountaineer from the Missouri game
Second place, Best Sports Feature, Chris Jackson, "Zitel overcomes odds to find role at WVU"
Third place, Best Front Page, Andrew Spellman, "We are one WVU"
Third place, Best Illustration, Nick Rhoads, clown cover
Third place, Best Special Section, Joel Whetzel, "The Year in Review."
West Virginia Press Association
2017 Advertisement of the Year, DA Promo Video, Staff
Advertising (Division II, Dailies with less than 16,000 circulation)
First place, Best Progress Edition, Graduation, Staff
First place, Best Online Promotion Ad, Dress for Success, Staff
First place, Best Single Newspaper Online Promotional Ad, DA Promo Video, Staff
Second place, Best Online Motion Ad, Dress for Success, Staff
Second place, Best Process Color Ad ½ Page or Less, The Cupcakerie, Staff
Third place, Best Spot Color Ad ½ Page or Less, Fright Farm, Staff
Third place, Best Full Page Ad Campaign, Fashion Forward, Staff
CMBAM (College Media Business and Advertising Managers)
Second place, Best Self Promotion Video Ad, Staff
Third place, Best Special Event, Thankful Tree, Staff
Honorable Mention, Best Sales Pitch or Proposal, Sheetz, Staff
Honorable Mention, Best Ancillary Operation, PR Street Team, Staff
Society of Professional Journalists (Regional)
First place, Feature Photo, Andrew Spellman, Dog days at the pool
First place, News Photo, Andrew Spellman, Profits over people
First place, Editorials, Brandon Ridgeley
Finalist, Breaking News, Kayla Asbury
Finalist, Feature Writing, Alainia Conrad
Finalist, Photo Illustration, Askar Salikhov
Finalist, Sports Columns, David Statman
Society of Professional Journalists (National)
Finalist, Feature Photo, Andrew Spellman, Dog days at the pool
American Scholastic Press Association
Most Outstanding Weekly Newspaper
First Place ranking, College newspapers