On Saturday, April 4, The Oakland Post staff was awarded third place in the Best All-Around Non-Daily Student Newspaper in Region 4 by the Society of Professional Journalists.

University of Cincinatti’s The News Record staff won second place, and Central Michigan University’s Central Michigan Life took home first place.

Region 4 covers Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia and Western Pennsylvania.

“Things can only go up from here for The Oakland Post,” said Lindsey Wojcik, The Oakland Post’s editor in chief. “I couldn’t be more proud of my staff.”

Masudur Rahman, campus editor of The Oakland Post, also won third place in the In-Depth Reporting category for the article “Equality in Home Quarters” that was published in the Oct. 1, 2008 issue of The Oakland Post.

“Equality in Home Quarters” covered the troubles of Micah Fialka-Feldman, who audits classes at OU through the OPTIONS program but isn’t an admitted  student, as he tried to live on campus. He still isn’t allowed to live in the dorms, and is currently awaiting a court date for his lawsuit against Oakland University.

“I was surprised I won,” Rahman said.

The conference featured some journalism workshops, as well as a keynote speech by Miami Herald columnist Leonard Pitts, Jr.

This year, collegiate journalists submitted more than 3,600 entrties in 39 categories across SPJ’s 12 regions, according to SPJ.

The first place regionl winners in each category will move on to the national round. Winners will be announced around mid-May.