College Radio Day is Coming

College Radio Day

College Radio DayBy Jillian Deiley
Staff Writer

On Friday, Nov. 4 College radio stations across the nation will unite to celebrate the sixth annual celebration of the national holiday, College Radio Day.

The holiday was conceived by Rob Quicke, the university advisor to William Patterson University’s radio station, 93.7 WPSC FM, and was officially launched in December 2010.

He worked with Peter Kreten, the General Manager to Saint Xavier University’s radio station WXAV FM, to help develop the idea further.

The goal of College Radio Day is to spread awareness for the opportunities college radio stations bring to young broadcasters and celebrates how college radio helps them develop for the future.

“The aim of College Radio Day is to harness the combined listenership of hundreds of thousands of college radio listeners throughout the world and to celebrate the important contribution of college radio by uniting for this one day,” according to their website.

This year’s theme is “igniting the soul of college radio.”

It focuses on how college radio, as free and artistic medium, promotes underground and unknown bands, musicians, and artist, giving them a chance to broadcast their work publically.

According to the College Radio Day website, “the organizers of College Radio Day believe that college radio is one of the last remaining bastions of creative radio programming, free from the constrictions of having to be commercially viable, and a place where those involved in its programming believe passionately in its mission.”

With no restrictions from a commercial bias, college radio is truly independent medium and the content on college radio stations comes directly from the soul of its participants.

College Radio Stations from all over the U.S and the World can register as a participating station and stand united with their appreciation for college radio.

Last year’s College Radio day took place on Friday Oct. 3 and over four hundred stations across the nation participated.

The College Radio Day Task Force, a team of over twenty College Radio, DJs, advisors, and experienced workers, spent the six months leading up to the holiday by preparing individual sweepers, a thirty second promotional audio bit to be played on air, for each station as well as over 40 general sweepers to be shared between stations, promotional videos, interviews with supporting musicians/artists, and a twenty-four hour national FM and Web broadcast consisting of twenty-four separate college radio stations from across the nation.

90.3 WESS, East Stroudsburg University’s radio station, is a participating member and plans to hold a celebration in the Keystone Center located across from the Union.

Returning performers from last year’s College Radio Day event include the New Jersey Alt-rock group, The Paper Jets, and the New Jersey, surf-rock group, The Foxfires, as well as many new artists too.

Join 90.3 WESS on this day and help ignite the soul of college radio.

Email Jillian at:
jdeiley@live.esu.edu