Radio Free Hillsdale Wins Station of the Year at State Broadcasting Awards
Hillsdale College students took first place in nine categories in the Michigan Student Broadcast Awards from the Michigan Association of Broadcasters.
HILLSDALE, Mich. — Hillsdale College students took first place in nine categories in the Michigan Student Broadcast Awards from the Michigan Association of Broadcasters, and WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM was named College Audio Station of the Year. Winners were announced on March 26 at the Student Awards Luncheon in Lansing.
“Hillsdale students took home 17 individual awards, a record for WRFH, and also celebrated the honor of station of the year,” said Scot Bertram, general manager at WRFH. “We are humbled to have our journalists and their work honored in such a public way.”
WRFH was named College Audio Station of the Year for the fourth consecutive year and the fifth time since 2019. Eighteen Hillsdale College students took home first, second, and third place honors across various categories.
First Place
- Commentary
- Lilly Faye Kraemer ’28 | “Music Festivals”
- Music Feature or Special
- Gwen Thompson ’25 | “The Timbrel and the Lyre”
- On-Air Personality or Team
- Alessia Sandala ’27, Megan Li ’27 | “Undetected”
- Promotional Announcement
- Luke Miller ’27 | “WRFH Station Promo”
- Public Service Announcement
- Emily Schutte ’26 | “Sneeze in Your Sleeve”
- Public Service Announcement – Sponsored by the Michigan Human Trafficking Commission
- Luke Miller ’27 | “Human Trafficking: Listen”
- Sports Feature
- Evan Mick ’26 | “New Rules: Magdalena Sularski”
- Sportscast
- Lewis Thune ’26, Paden Hughes ’26, Mark Ayers ’26, Patrick Hamilton ’26 | “4 Man Front”
- Talk Show/Podcast
- Gavin Listro ’25, Lilly Faye Kraemer ’28, Gwen Thompson ’25 | “WRFH St. Patrick’s Day Special”
Second Place
- Commentary
- Ariel McDowell ’27 | “Word to the Wise: Activism”
- Daily Newscast/News Feature
- James Joski ’28 | “History Off Script: Thanksgiving”
- Live Sports Coverage
- Gordie Lafontaine ’25, Evan Mick ’26 | Basketball: Hillsdale vs. Kentucky Wesleyan, 02/02/25
Honorable Mention (Third Place)
- Commentary
- Quinn Delamater ’26 | “The Death of Charlie Kirk”
- Public Service Announcement – Sponsored by the Michigan Human Trafficking Commission
- Quinn Delamater ’26 | “Human Trafficking: Get Help”
- Sports Feature
- Evan Mick ’26 | “After the Combine with Isaac TeSlaa”
- Talk Show/Podcast
- Luke Miller ’27 | “Alamo of the Pacific”
- Use of Social Media
- Mattie Grace Watson ’26, Carissa Nisly ’26 | WRFH Social Media
WRFH is the student-run radio station of Hillsdale College. Since its founding in 2016, students have created thousands of hours of content and hundreds of episodes of radio shows on topics from sports and politics to poetry and astronomy. Hillsdale students and WRFH have earned 10 first-place awards from Intercollegiate Broadcasting Systems, 42 from the Michigan Association of Broadcasters, and seven from Collegiate Broadcasters, Inc.