MIPA Student Media Honor Cords

Outstanding graduating seniors at MIPA member student media programs are invited to wear MIPA student media honor cords at graduation. The MIPA honor cord program is designed to be a select privilege to recognize academic achievement and superior work in journalism or school media. Cords must be ordered by media advisers/teachers, who are responsible for verifying that students meet the spirit of this honors program.

• Your school media program must be a current MIPA member to order cords via our website. Become a member
• If your media program is not a MIPA member, Quill & Scroll offers a journalism honor cord for its members and non-members.
• Non-members and anyone needing assistance placing an honor cord order should contact the MIPA office.

Because journalism programs may differ from school to school, MIPA has created a set of suggested criteria for advisers to determine if their student journalists qualify for this honor. These criteria may be adapted to meet the needs of your program, but the criteria you use should recognize academic achievement and superior work in journalism or school media. (Honor cords should not be used simply to reward participation.) It is up to the adviser to determine what criteria to use and to ensure students meet those high standards (as well as ensure these cords meet the requirements of your school for use in graduation ceremonies). Cords are gold, white and green.

MIPA suggests students meet all of the following criteria for this honor:

• You must have served more than one year on a student media staff (including enrollment in introductory journalism courses).
• Your student media outlet must be a member of MIPA.
• You must have served in a leadership position on the student media staff OR been honored with a first-, second- or third-place award in MIPA’s statewide contests.
• You must have the equivalent of an A- grade point average in the journalism/student media course AND be in the upper third of your graduating class academically.
• You must have the approval of your student media adviser.

Cords orders must be placed online, and can be shipped or picked up in person at the MIPA office or the Spring Awards event. Cords must be ordered by the media adviser/teacher, who will verify that the student meets the criteria for this recognition. We will not sell cords directly to students or parents.

Deadline to Order

• Pre-orders for pickup at the Spring Awards must be placed two weeks before the event date. MIPA cannot guarantee we will have enough cords in stock if you do not pre-order.
• We encourage orders by mail to be submitted by May 1 to ensure delivery in time for your graduation events. MIPA processes orders as quickly as possible once payment is received. We’ll do our best to get you cords by your graduation events.

Cost

$8 per cord, plus shipping and handling based on the size of your order

Shipping & Handling

We charge a 10 percent shipping and handling fee for honor cord orders, with a minimum fee of $5.25 and maximum of $10. Orders are shipped UPS Ground. We prefer to ship to school addresses.

You may pick up cords for no additional fee at the MIPA office or at an upcoming MIPA event. You may also combine shipments for honor cords with other items to potentially reduce shipping costs. Please contact the MIPA office.

Please allow up to 2-3 weeks for processing and shipping. For a rush order, please contact us.

Please let us know with your order if there is an event date by when you need your cords. Thank you!