Hillsdale College Students Named Finalists for National Broadcasting Awards

Hillsdale had finalists in eight categories in the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System College Media Awards.

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HILLSDALE, Mich. — Hillsdale College had finalists in eight categories for the annual Intercollegiate Broadcasting Systems Awards. First-place winners will be announced on March 8 in New York City.

“I’m very proud of our WRFH students for their effort,” said Scot Bertram, general manager of WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. “There were thousands of submissions from college stations across the country, and being a finalist usually means the entry was judged among the top five in the category. We are grateful for this recognition of our students’ excellent work.”

“We are grateful for this recognition of our students’ excellent work.”

The awards are open to college stations nationwide, and finalists rank in the top five percent of submissions. WRFH had finalists in eight categories:

Gavin Listro ’25, Ally Hall ’25, and Bella Dix ’25: Best Specialty Music Show (“I’ve Got Aux”)

Jillian Parks ’25 and Garrett Goolsby ’25: Best Talk Program: (“The Social Mediators”)

Emily Schutte ’26: Best Newscast (“Emily Schutte News”)

Thomas McKenna ’26, Catherine Maxwell ’26, Hershey Athysivam ’27: Best Campus/Community News (“Hillsdale Jail Overcrowded”)

Gavin Listro ’25: Best Liner/Sweeper (“WRFH Supermarket”)

Lauren Smyth ’25: Best News Director, Radio

Hana Connelly ’26: Best Sports Director, Radio

WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM: Best College/University Station (Under 10,000 Students)

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 seven first-place awards from IBS, 25 from the Michigan Association of Broadcasters, and seven from Collegiate Broadcasters, Inc.

For headshots of the finalists, click here. For more information about WRFH, click here. For a full list of IBS Awards Finalists, click here.

For a high-resolution copy of the Hillsdale College clocktower logo, click here.

About Hillsdale College

Hillsdale College is an independent liberal arts college located in southern Michigan. Founded in 1844, the College has built a national reputation through its classical liberal arts core curriculum and its principled refusal to accept federal or state taxpayer subsidies, even indirectly in the form of student grants or loans. It also conducts an outreach effort promoting civil and religious liberty, including a free monthly speech digest, Imprimis, with a circulation of more than 7.5 million. For more information, visit hillsdale.edu.

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Media inquiries may be directed to:
Emily Stack Davis
517-607-2730 (work)
517-803-3745 (cell)
[email protected]
For all other inquiries contact Hillsdale College at 517-437-7341.