About Us
The Crusader has been the SCCC student voice since 1969. It is an independent, student-run publication. It publishes stories containing local news and features that highlight the diversity of campus as part of coursework and the Crusader club.
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For the fourth year in a row Crusader receives the All-Kansas award for spring and fall of 2021. Pictured left to right are Laura Gillespie, Brianna Rich, Jessica Madrigal, Dani Arellano and Seyun Park.
The Crusader News spring 2022 staff poses with the All-Kansas award. It is the fourth consecutive naming of SCCC for the top honor in the state for college media. The staff included Front Row: Melvin Lee, Jessica Madrigal, Dani Arellano, Brianna Rich. Back Row: Megan Berg, Laura Gillespie and Reece Hay. Not pictured: Ashanti Thompson.
Jessica Madrigal shakes hands with Bill McGlothing, retired SCCC English teacher. The Crusader staff have nicknamed McGlothing, "Facebook Bill," because he gives them constructive comments on their articles. The staff was eager to meet him face-to-face.
Crusader class poses with the new Louie the Saint bobble heads for the SCCC public relations department.
Brianna Rich, photo editor, gets some tips on sports photography from Phil Lee, a former sports editor.
Spring 2022 Crusader staff: Maddy Garrison, Brianna Rich, Dani Arellano, Jessica Madrigal, Sara Lock, Ashanti Thompson, Laura Gillespie and Megan Berg
Laura Gillespie speaks to a group of high school seniors about Crusader, encouraging them to join the club next year.
Melvin Le, copy editor, learns how about AP style and how to edit stories from Crusader's managing editor Laura Gillespie.
Dani Arellano supervises the first interview of the semester for freshman Ashanti Thompson. Veteran Crusader staff took out new members to learn how to interview.
Crusader solved the murder mystery as part of the going away party for their advisor, Sue Sprenkle. Those who solved it were Brianna Rich, Dani Arellano, Reece Hay, Maddy Garrison, Ashanti Thompson, Megan Berg and Laura Gillespie.
Sara Lock, super sophomore from Oklahoma City, learns how to load a story into the Crusader drive. Laura Gillespie, editor and freshman from Hugoton, mentors the new staff member during class.
Reece Hay, freshman from Liberal, records an interview while new Crusader staff member Jessica Madrigal, sophomore from Spearman, Texas, writes down notes. Hay mentored Madrigal on how to conduct an interview.
Staff picture day wouldn't be "picture day" without a lot of goofing for the camera. The spring 2022 staff hams it up.
There's a murder in the Crusader lab. For the Fall semester final, students tried to figure out "whodunnit." Each student portrayed a character but had no idea who the murderer was until the end.
Ruby Thornton dresses up like a palm reader for the Crusader fall final. Her character was accused of the fictional murder but was released at the last second.
Dani Arellano reads the script for her character in the Crusader murder mystery final. Each person read a script and was allowed to ask questions on their quest to find out who the murderer was.
Mauricio Gonzalez and Laura Gillespie dress up as Italian mobsters for the Crusader Fall semester final. Staff participated in a murder mystery dinner.
Crusader staff plays "Dog Bites Man" during class. The game helps teach the basics of headlines.
Megan Berg, freshman from Sublette, looks through her cards to see if she has everything she needs to write a headline. The staff played "Dog Bites Man."
Brooke Katen, Mauri Gonzalez and Dani Arellano trade cards. They were all looking for "verbs" to add to their headlines.
Reece Hay, freshman from Liberal, slices into a pumpkin. Crusader staff carved pumpkins for a "photo shoot."
Crusader staffed carved pumpkins to use for a Halloween story.
Tracing a pattern on the pumpkin is the first step in making a "pretty pumpkin," according to Ruby Thornton. The sophomore from Elkhart helped prepare pumpkins for a Halloween story.
Saskia Vogelzang, super sophomore from The Netherlands, digs into a plate of tacos. She had never been to a taco truck before the class assignment.
Crusader staff took a "taco truck" tour as part of writing a food review. Reece Hay, freshman from Liberal, digs in to taste test a taco.
Bowling backwards and through the legs challenges Kylie Regier, freshman from Liberal. As a way to celebrate the end of the virtual National Collegiate Media Conference, staff went out to eat and bowled.
Crusader staff cheers on bowlers during the fall party. To celebrate the end of the virtual National Collegiate Conference, staff went bowling and ate together.
Reece Hay bowls "normal" during the Crusader fall party. It was one of the few frames staff members bowled the correct way. After the first few frames, a challenge was added.
Mauri Gonzalez, super sophomore from Argentina, closes his eyes to bowl. It was just one challenge at the fall staff party.
All of the awards that Crusader News earned was from Spring and Fall of 2021. The Crusader spring and fall 2021 staff members are Brooke Katen, Dani Arellano, Victoria Martins, Ruby Thornton, Megan Berg, Kylie Regier, Reece Hay, William Swanson and Mauricio Gonzalez. Not pictured: Saskia Vogelzang, Mary Ramirez, Ana Brangioni, Gracie Gillespie, Brianna Rich, Andrea Espinoza, Monalisa Chakraborty, Maddie Garrison, Raven Staten, Maria Coronado, Destiny Vasquez, Logan Scruggs, Krisi Anderson and Brooklynn Bauer.
Crusader staff learns the basics of interviewing in the second class of the semester. Students practiced on each other and found out "little known" facts.
Competing to put together the best storyboard, Mauricio Gonzalez and Ana Brangioni work as a team. The pair put their pictures in the best order for a story and won that round of the competition.
Using only the pictures given to them, each team must piece together a story and come up with their own transitions between the pictures. Stories often end up being a little crazy since you have no idea what pictures you'll get in the draw.
The target was big but it was still hard for students to hit the bulls eye with the Kansas wind. Ana Brangioni took a break from doing social media posts about the event to join the fun.
Dani Arellano takes time from filming the kick off event for Hispanic Heritage Month to give the soccer target a try. Students could win prizes and Arellano wanted that gift certificate.
Kylie Regier practices using the mic and adjusting the audio settings during Crusader class. The freshman from Liberal did her first video about local athletes choosing to stay home.
Megan Berg interviews Wade Lyon in her first "on camera" experience for Crusader News. The freshman from Sublette is a multi-media reporter.
Mary Ramirez fans herself and pants trying to cool herself off from the fire she just ate. Ramirez snagged third place in this year’s jalapeño contest at the student union. The sophomore represented Crusader News in the contest.
Keep up with the 2021-22 Crusader staff activities by viewing this photo gallery .
Our students routinely win state and national honors for their journalistic skills that include: editorial leadership, writing, reporting, design, photography, emerging media, social media and management.
Mission Statement:
The journalism department of SCCC strives to teach students to competently and fairly report news in the student newspaper and online newspaper forums, presenting quality products while learning life and career skills. The journalism department will present opportunities to learn skills in news writing, design and layout, advertising, and photography.
Notice of Nondiscrimination:
Applicants for admission and employment, students, employees, sources of referral of applicants for admission and employment, and all unions or professional organizations holding collective bargaining or professional agreements with Seward County Community College are hereby notified that this institution does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, age, or disability in admission or access to, or treatment or employment in, its programs and activities. Any person having inquiries concerning Seward County Community College’s compliance with the regulations implementing Title VI, Title IX, or Section 504 is directed to contact Mr. Dennis Sander, P.O. Box 1137, 1801 North Kansas, Liberal, Kansas, (620) 624 -1951.
Crusader History:
The SCCC news team has won awards for best of show, exceptional achievement and coveted Pacemaker and Pinnacle awards. Past Crusader staff members have taken home many prestigious individual awards such as Kansas journalist of the year. Staffs make their mark on the community beyond awards. It is tradition on the SCCC campus for clubs to be involved in community service.
See photo galleries from past staffs: 2018-19 , 2019-20 , 2020-21, 2021-22 .
Click or swipe through the timeline to view more Crusader history: (Don’t see your year listed? Send us a photo and information about your staff.)