The Claremont Port Side, a progressive magazine at CMC, has received the 2008 Breakthrough Publication of the Year award from Campus Progress, the youth division of the Center for American Progress. The award is one of two given by Campus Progress annually in recognition of distinguished achievement in campus publications.
On its Web site, (http://www.campusprogress.org/common/3061/winners-announced-for-2008-campus-progress-awards-in-student-activism-advocacy-and-journalism), Campus Progress listed these reasons for honoring the Claremont Port Side:
"The Claremont Port Side has changed drastically over the past year," the site reports. "The magazine has undergone a complete re-design from an expanded and professional-looking website, including a blog, to its eye-catching print edition. The writing too, has grown and features argumentative pieces with well-written analysis and reporting on local, national, and international issues.
"Its mission statement proclaims that it aims to provide contextualized, intelligent reports to advance debate among students and citizens,'" Campus Progress continued, "and it has done just that with its monthly publication. We're very proud to present the Breakthrough Publication of the Year award to the Claremont Port Side." (http://www.claremontportside.com.)
Abhi Nemani, Port Side editor-in-chief from fall 2007 to spring 2008, said, "We couldn't publish without them [Campus Progress]. They've given us funding to survive and even thrive the past two years, and now, they've given us more: they have honored us with this award. It's more than I could have asked for.
"More than anything else," he said, "the Breakthrough Publication of the Year award is a testament to the hard work and commitment of the staff: they rebuilt the organization and redesigned the magazine to create a publication that has more readers, more content, and more respect. This award validates their efforts on a national stage. I'm so very proud."
Campus Progress "acts to empower new progressive leaders nationwide as they develop fresh ideas, communicate in new ways, push policy outcomes in a progressive direction, and build a strong progressive movement."
Last year's Breakthrough Publication of the Year award was given to the Michigan Independent, University of Michigan. This year's Publication of the Year award, the other annual award presented by Campus Progress, went to Cipher, Colorado College.
Other publications Campus Progress supports include The Patriot, Boston College, Ad Hoc, Columbia University, Dartmouth Free Press, Dartmouth College, Perspective Magazine, Harvard University, The Carleton Progressive, Carleton College, Stanford Progressive, Stanford University, Pacific Ties, University of California, Los Angeles, and The Trojan Horse, University of Southern California.*
*A full listing of supported publications can be found at http://www.campusprogress.com/tools/90/campus-progress-publications.
Luke Rhee '10