May 2016

SANTA CLARA, Calif., May 13, 2016—In one of the top honors in the publishing industry, Santa Clara Magazine has earned a MAGGIE Award for the best design of any West Coast-based consumer magazine with a circulation of more than 75,000 readers.

At the annual MAGGIE awards ceremony May 6, hosted by the Western Publishing Association (WPA), Santa Clara Magazine also took home top honors for best magazine overall published by an association or nonprofit organization.

The awards recognize editorial and design excellence in print and digital publishing—celebrating work deemed “The Best in the West.” For 65 years, the nonprofit WPA has sought to commend top work in consumer and trade publishing.

SCU won the top design award for its fall 2015 edition, the cover of which featured a striking image of Pope Francis, photographed by Stephen Crowley. The pope stands in the Oval Office of the White House with his back to the camera, looking out on the Washington Monument and gazing out on America. Alongside the pope—and wrapped around the back cover of the magazine—is President Barack Obama.

Stories in the edition include “Change the Game,” about Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment, and stories on basketball legend Steve Nash ’96, World Cup soccer phenomenon Julie Johnston ’14, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, an essay on Junipero Serra, and a look at the film Spotlight—which went on to earn the Oscar for best picture.

The winning MAGGIE entry was the second edition of Santa Clara Magazine printed after a redesign that was the biggest transformation the magazine had undergone since it was founded 35 years ago at Santa Clara University.

“We worked with creative genius DJ Stout and his team at Pentagram Austin to to reimagine the architecture in a way that’s bold and dramatic and speaks to who we are, and that gives us room to tell the stories we want to tell,” said editor Steven Boyd Saum in accepting the MAGGIE for best design. “I think it turned out really beautiful.”

Santa Clara Magazine is published by Santa Clara University. The print magazine has a circulation of 100,000 and growing. Subscriptions are offered free of charge to alumni and friends of Santa Clara University. Complimentary copies are available by request at https://magazine.scu.edu/scm/contact-us.cfm.

Before taking the helm at Santa Clara Magazine, Saum served as editor-in-chief at The Commonwealth Club of California, where he founded the organization’s magazine and edited the collection of speeches Each a Mighty Voice. He has written for The Christian Science Monitor, The Believer, Orion, and other publications, and he is a three-time champion on Jeopardy!

Other recent MAGGIE winners for editorial and design excellence have included Sunset, Mother Jones, Macworld, Pacific Standard, and Variety. It is a rarity for university magazines to be considered as finalists in the awards—let alone take home top honors. However, this award isn’t a first for Santa Clara: The magazine won top honors in that category two years ago, and in 2015, won honors for the best series of illustrations, created by internationally known artist Brian Stauffer.

About Santa Clara University
Santa Clara University, a comprehensive Jesuit, Catholic university located 40 miles south of San Francisco in California’s Silicon Valley, offers its more than 9,000 students rigorous undergraduate curricula in arts and sciences, business, and engineering; master’s degrees in business, education, counseling psychology, pastoral ministry, and theology; and law degrees and engineering Ph.D.s. Distinguished nationally by one of the highest graduation rates among all U.S. master’s universities, California’s oldest operating higher-education institution demonstrates faith-inspired values of ethics and social justice. For more information, see www.scu.edu.

Media Contact
Deborah Lohse | Media Relations | dlohse@scu.edu | 408-554-5121