The Observer won 22 awards at the 2022 Indiana Collegiate Press Association (ICPA) awards, including second place for Division I Online Publication of the Year.
The Observer staff won second place in the Themed Issue category for their 2021 Commencement edition and third place in the Special Issue category for their Irish Insider ahead of the Notre Dame vs. USC football game. The staff also won third place for Best Overall Design, third place for Best Overall Website Design and second place for Best Use of Twitter. In addition, Observer staff won second place and third place for Best Staff Editorial for the Editorial Board's April 2021 editorial about combating antisemitism on campus and October 2021 editorial supporting LGBTQ+ individuals on the tri-campus respectively.
The staff was awarded first place for Best Blog Post for Uyen Le, Chris Russo, Spencer Kelly and Lilyann Gardner's From the Archives piece on the history of sexist traditions, attacks and microaggressions on the Notre Dame and Saint Mary's campuses. Former Managing Editor Evan McKenna, Sarah Kikel, Maggie Clark and Le also won second place for Best Blog Post for their From the Archives piece on the history and controversy surrounding Zahm House after the dorm was disbanded last year.
The News Department took home three awards this year. Former Editor-in-Chief Adriana Perez and former Assistant Managing Editor Isabella Volmert won third place in the In-Depth Story category for their April 2021 reporting on the "troubling culture" in Zahm House and the events leading to the dorm's disbandment. Assistant Managing Editor Genevieve Coleman and former Assistant Managing Editor Maeve Filbin won third place for Best Continuous Coverage of A Single Story for their coverage of Saint Mary's students reclaiming the term "smick" after it was used in a derogatory manner in several emails written by residents of Zahm House during the 2020-2021 academic year. Editor-in-Chief Alysa Guffey and McKenna brought home third place for Best News or Feature Reporting Online for their story on students' responses to the University's updated COVID-19 response at the beginning of last semester.
In the Sports Department, Assistant Managing Editor Mannion McGinley and Sports Editor Aidan Thomas won first place for Best Sports News Story for their story on the reactions of players, recruits, alumni and the media to former head football coach Brian Kelly's departure from Notre Dame.
In the Scene Department, Interim Scene Editor Claire Lyons won first place in the Entertainment Column category for her piece on political activism at the 2021 Met Gala. Managing Editor Aidan O'Malley won second place for Best Review for his review of the indie rock band Japanese Breakfast's album "Jubilee" and Graphics Editor Maggie Klaers brought home second place for Best Entertainment Story for her review of Matthew Morrison's September performance at the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center.
Klaers also won third place for Best Feature Page Design for her design for Scene's review of Taylor Swift's rerelease of her album "Red." In addition, Klaers and photographer Max Petrosky won third place for Best Special Section Front Cover for their cover design for the Notre Dame vs. Cincinnati Irish Insider. Klaers, Diane Park and Landry Kempf won third place for Best Rate Card in the Advertising division.
Rounding out the awards, former Photo Editor Allison Thornton won first and second place for Best Slideshow for her Gameday Galleries of the Notre Dame vs. Georgia Tech and Notre Dame vs. Stanford football games.
