For the second year in a row, The Associated Collegiate Press (ACP) is recognizing Northern Essex Community College’s student literary magazine, Parnassus, with a national Pacemaker Award. This makes Parnassus one of the top student collegiate magazines in the country, as this marks the sixth time overall the ACP has recognized the magazine with the distinction.

“Parnassus is a truly amazing opportunity for students and other members of the NECC community to showcase their artistic works, both at the college and in these national competitions, and winning the Pacemaker two years in a row (and our sixth time overall) is a strong testament to how fantastic our college’s creativity is and continues to be alongside the amazing work of the Parnassus staff in their selection and design of the magazine as well,” said NECC Writing Program Coordinator/ Faculty Advisor for Parnassus Patrick Lochelt. “We will continue to build on the great foundation we’ve established, and we look forward to receiving more amazing submissions from our NECC artists and writers for the 2026 issue!”

The prestigious Pacemaker recognizes overall excellence and distinguishes the top student media produced during a particular school year. The award started shortly after the association was founded in 1921 and is often regarded as the most competitive, most honored award in collegiate journalism.

Other winners of the Pacemaker Award this year include Auburn University, Southwestern College, University of New Mexico, Valencia College, University of Oregon, Western Kentucky University, and Black Hills State University.

Gary Lundgren, ACP associate director and coordinator of the Pacemaker competition, noted the quality of the winning student magazines rivals those produced by professionals.

“The verbal and visual storytelling in the winning magazines is incredible and robust long-form stories combined with shorter quick-reads to pace the reader through the pages of the feature magazines,” Lundgren said.

Other national associations, including the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, the Community College Humanities Association, have also recognized past issues of Parnassus. It was first produced at Northern Essex in 1965, making it one of the oldest institutions at the college.

The staff creates new and fresh looks to present each year, with submissions from the NECC community in the areas of fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, art, and photography. To learn more about Parnassus, click here or contact Patrick Lochelt at plochelt@necc.mass.edu.