SOUTH HOLLAND, IL – The South Suburban College literary and art magazine The Scriblerian has won three major awards from the American Scholastic Press Association. Scoring 960 out of a possible 1000 points, judged on content coverage, organization, design, presentation, and creativity. The magazine received a First Place with Special Merit award, with the judges stating, “Your magazine shows the superior efforts of talented and creative editors, writers, artists, layout/graphics/designers, staff members, contributors, and advisor.” Rick Jones, the advisor to The Scriblerian, said he was thrilled with the material presented in this year’s edition, which was the largest in the history of the magazine, at 128 pages, to celebrate its 35th anniversary year of publication and his own 25 years of sponsoring the magazine. He also praised the efforts of his editor, Stuti Sharma, and of his layout editor, Paul Braun. “We just had so many excellent submissions for fiction this year. I did not hesitate to include all the best ones, mostly from my creative writing fiction class students,” Jones stated.

In addition to that prize, the American Scholastic Press Association also awarded the magazine Outstanding Digital-media/Photoshop for Lee Shelby’s graphic design “History,” which shows prominent black men and women on a bus. The ASPA judge stated, “I love the concept, with different expressions for historical figures. It’s like a trip in time! Creative!” The other award was for Outstanding Fiction for a short story called “The Short Misadventures of the Doctor and His Companion” by Magdalene Janisse, a story which captures the Dr. Who, Torchwood, Supernatural, and Harry Potter universes in a creative tour de force. The ASPA judge stated, “Great to see someone who knows enough about the subject matter and characters while making the story understandable to non-Whovians. Fun and contemporary!” Jones said he thought the story was “Pure creative genius” as the author took suggested journal topics from his English 101 class and turned them into a creative piece of fiction, which also won Best Story at the annual Scriblerian Awards meeting in June. Jones said, “It deserved to win such an award as the story is truly outstanding, fun and creative.”

The ASPA also praised the publication by saying, “The Scriblerian is an amazing publication! You have published excellent works from your school population. Scriblerian is a model for those up-and-coming magazines and an inspiration for those that haven’t quite aced the necessary skills.”

In addition to Maggie Janisse winning the Best Story award locally, other awards presented to students at the annual Scriblerian meeting in June were for Best Art (Kathleen DeJong for “Paint Studio”), Best Essay (Flor M. Correa Vallejo for “The Value of a Toy”), Best Poem (Sofia Sayed for “The Starving Boy”), and Taliah Norwood for Cover Design. Magazines are available in the South Suburban College English office and library.

For more information about all of SSC’s programs, admissions and registration, please visit www.ssc.edu or contact the Admissions Office at (708) 210-5For more information about all of SSC’s programs, admissions and registration, please visit www.ssc.edu or contact the Admissions Office at (708) 210-5718.

SOUTH HOLLAND, IL – On Wednesday, September 27, 2017, South Suburban College’s Office of Student Life, in collaboration with the SSC Latino Center, held a very successful “D.A.C.A. Rally” to engage and inform our students and the community concerning the recent presidential recension of D.A.C.A. (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals). Held in the Kindig Performing Arts Center, students and the community learned about the personal, social, and economic implications that the recent D.A.C.A. recension will have upon the estimated 42,000 D.A.C.A. recipients in Illinois and approximately 800,000 nationwide.

Information from the Center for American Progress survey was presented as well as viewpoints from Sociologist Roberto Gonzales of Harvard University and Dr. Joseph Gorin, a clinical psychologist who runs a fully Spanish and English speaking group practice in Washington, D.C. Applicable videos were also utilized to round out the presentation as the program ended with a robust question and answer session.

Faculty and administrators teamed up to present this rally and according to feedback from our students and the community, the presentation was welcomed and appreciated. Many students were pleased that the College hosted this event and they became emotional knowing how this decision would affect their families and the educational goals they have set for themselves. Students were also given “Defend DACA” call-to-action cards with information to contact Illinois Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth to voice their concerns and ask them to support D.A.C.A.

For more information about SSC’s programs, admissions and registration, please visit www.ssc.edu or contact the Admissions Office at (708) 210-5718.