Taylor University’s 2023-24 yearbook, Overflow, received a 2024 Scholastic Yearbook first-place award from the American Scholastic Press Association. This annual contest reviews high school and collegiate yearbooks in a variety of categories and provides feedback on page design, cover design, story layout, graphics, photography, and more.
Scoring highest in creativity, Overflow’s design elements, unique layouts, and quality writing contributed to this accomplishment. Ilium the student yearbook committee is overseen by Donna Downs, Associate Professor of Communication at Taylor University.
“The Ilium staff is dedicated to excellence in representing the university, and this award is well deserved,” Downs said. “Having never worked on Taylor’s yearbook before, Co-Editors-in Chief Karissa Collins and Alexa Twiggs led the team to this win.”
Twiggs highlighted the team’s goals to preserve Taylor history, express the heart behind the community, encapsulate the student body perception, and incorporate scripture. In choosing a theme, Twiggs and Collins wanted to point to Taylor’s incredible growth and numerous changes as a direct result of God’s hand and blessing.
With the university’s growth in student population, the Main Street Mile Initiative, several groundbreakings, and a new nursing program, the idea of Overflow was certainly fitting. Twiggs and Collins used Romans 15:13 as inspiration for the theme: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Ilium is based in the Public Relations major at Taylor, but students of all majors can apply. Ilium staff are paid and earn upper-level media hour credits, which is helpful for Design, Graphic Art, Photography, Film and Media Arts, Multimedia Journalism, and Public Relations majors. Currently, the Ilium staff includes three designers, three photographers, two writers, one managing editor, and one editor-in-chief.
Sole editor-in-chief this year, Twiggs views her experience as professional preparation. A junior Public Relations major, Twiggs would like to pursue a leadership role in branding after graduation. “Right now, I’m overseeing and directing groups of creative photographers, designers, and copywriters, and I think it’s training me really well and giving me that leadership experience and also building my skills,” she said.
