Student Media is proud to announce that The Forge, Mason’s only sci-fi and fantasy magazine, is the winner of multiple 2025 National Pinnacle Awards presented by the College Media Association (CMA)! Winners were announced October 15-18, 2025 at the MediaFest25 Conference in Washington, D.C.
For the second year in a row, Volition, Mason’s undergraduate literary and arts journal, was named a national finalist for the 2025 Pacemaker Award by The Associated Collegiate Press (ACP). Unofficially known as the “Student Pulitzer,” the Pacemaker is the preeminent award in student journalism.
Congratulations to both journals!
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The Pinnacle Awards are CMA’s flagship national honors, “recognizing the best student work in collegiate journalism, media production and organizational excellence.” A panel of experienced media professors and educators selected this year’s winners from a pool of 3,358 entries across eight categories. Open to individuals and student media outlets from across the country, the Pinnacles span a wide range of categories including writing, photography, design, multimedia storytelling, and more.
First published in spring 2019, The Forge is a sci-fi and fantasy literary journal at George Mason University that publishes short stories, flash/micro fiction, poetry, and visual artwork focused on “all things speculative.” The Forge seeks to elevate original student works that explore the many realms of speculative fiction, such as imagining new, expansive worlds, exploring aspects of futuristic technologies, and investigating the variety of ways speculative fiction can educate as well as entertain.
“There are no words to describe how happy I am that The Forge is getting the recognition it deserves. All the talented creators and hardworking staff gave their all for this issue,” said Emily Gomez-Adames, the student editor-in-chief of the award-winning 2024-2025 issue. “Leading a team for the first time was nerve-wracking, but seeing everything come together made it all worth it.”
“Winning multiple Pinnacle Awards feels incredible and I’m so proud of the team! It’s amazing to know that the hard work and care we put into the issue paid off,” said current Forge Editor-in-Chief Samantha Gerken. “By working at The Forge, I learned more about teamwork, project management, and the publication process. I’m excited to see where the publication goes in the future!”
“Well-deserved but not surprising; both editorial teams consistently create publications that are the best of the best in college media journals,” said Mason Student Media Director Kathryn Mangus.
“I am extremely proud of Mason’s student publications and was thrilled to see The Forge gain national recognition at this year’s Pinnacle Awards. I especially enjoyed hearing the student team cheer for each win during the awards ceremony,” said faculty advisor Jason Hartsel. “Each individual issue is the culmination of many hours of hard work, creativity, and hands-on learning by our talented students, and these awards will no doubt inspire future teams to leave behind their own legacy of distinction.”
According to CMA’s website, contests such as the Pinnacle Awards, “highlight the best in student journalism [and] empower students and student media organizations to elevate their work, gain national recognition, and set professional standards for storytelling, design, and multimedia innovation.” Participation “helps students build portfolios, raise their publication’s visibility, and benchmark their work alongside peer institutions. Winning entries are featured at CMA conventions, shared with the broader journalism community, and published as models of excellence.”
The Forge’s 2025 Pinnacle Awards:
- Second Place, Division I: Literary Magazine of the Year (team award)
- First Place, Division I: Literary Magazine Cover (Ann Rodriguez, Samantha Gerken, and Marian Claros Barrientos)
- Second Place, Division I: Editorial Illustration (Marian Claros Barrientos)
- Honorable Mention, Division I: Literary Magazine Spread (Kerry Bishop, Zeenat Hamidi, and Samantha Gerken)