Bakersfield College’s student newspaper, The Renegade Rip, gathered numerous awards in March and April – including two in general excellence – after announcements of winners by three journalism organizations.

The most prestigious announcement came from the California Newspaper Publishers Association, a statewide organization that holds an annual contest for professional and collegiate media.

CNPA notified The Rip in March that it had finished in the top four during general excellence judging for community college newspapers throughout the state. The Rip will find out its exact placing in May. Newspapers judged were published in 2013.

The other general excellence award was announced April 5 at the Journalism Association of Community Colleges state conference in Burbank. The Rip earned the honor after exceeding a certain amount of points necessary for general excellence in judging by journalism professionals.

At the conference, three Rip staff members earned on-the-spot awards in competitions that simulate daily newspaper deadlines. Sharida Rejon, the Rip’s features editor, placed fourth for feature story and earned an honorable mention in broadcast newswriting.

The Rip’s news editor, Myrissa Johns, earned an honorable mention in copy editing, and Rip reporter Elizabeth Fernandez won a meritorious award in the Instagram competition.

Rip students also won three awards in the California Colleges Media Association student newspaper contest.

Bertin Rodriguez, current editor in chief of The Rip and the online editor in fall 2013, placed third for informational graphic that showed crime statistics on the BC campus.

Kennedy Thomas, a reporter during fall 2013 and now a student at Cal State-Bakersfield, placed third for breaking news story with an article about the suspension of several student government members.

Also, Thomas was recently informed that he has been awarded a $1,000 prize for winning the Community College Public Relations Writing Scholarship, which is awarded to a California community college student who publishes a news story in a newspaper or online publication that is judged to be the best entry.

Mitchelle De Leon, a reporter during spring 2013, placed third in the CCMA contest for best personal opinion column with an article about recognizing and sharing a personal-lifestyle decision.

The CCMA organization is fairly new, and its contest is mostly for four-year schools, but community colleges are allowed to enter. This is the first time the BC staff has entered this contest.