The Kentucky Kernel, the University of Kentucky’s independent daily student newspaper, has won the 2007-08 Pacemaker award, often called the Pulitzer Prize of college journalism.

The award, presented at the Associated Collegiate Press annual convention in Kansas City, Mo., was for five issues the Kernel published during the last school year.

Those issues included coverage of students celebrating Ramadan, a profile of a UK professor who fought in Vietnam and returned in 2008 with his students, a profile of a man struggling for more than 20 years with AIDS and a post-Super Bowl profile of former UK quarterback Jared Lorenzen, who was third-string quarterback for the New York Giants.

The contest was judged by employees at the St. Petersburg Times in Florida.

The other daily newspapers winning the award were: The Daily Iowan of the University of Iowa; the Northern Star of Northern Illinois University; The Daily Northwestern of Northwestern University; the Indiana Daily Student of Indiana University; The Harvard Crimson of Harvard University; The State News of Michigan State University; The Daily Tar Heel of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; and The Battalion of Texas A&M University.

Kernel adviser Chris Poore said he was proud of students at the Kernel, the state’s only daily college newspaper and the only newspaper Pacemaker winner in the state.

He said the Kernel was in good company among the top newspapers in the nation.

“These guys love working at the Kernel and wouldn’t trade it for anything,” Poore said. “But it’s still nice to have them recognized as one of the top newspapers in the country. It’s a reward for a lot of long hours and, frankly, some pretty pitiful social lives.”

Keith Smiley, editor in chief for the Kernel during the 2007-08 school year, said while he knew the Kernel staff did an excellent job during the year, it was nice to have the validation that comes from national recognition.

“I think for me and for all of us, it was a culmination,” Smiley said. “I think we knew we put in a lot of good work. But it’s nice to have that recognition, not just by us but by the judges from these professional newspapers.”