HIllsdale College WRFH General Manager Scot Bertram and staff in New York City last week

Hillsdale College Student Radio (WRFH), Michigan State University Student Radio (WDBM) and Western Michigan University Student Radio (WIDR) recently placed first place in several categories in the 2026 Intercollegiate Broadcasting System (IBS) College Media Awards.

The awards were presented during the IBS conference held February 20-21 in New York City.  Approximately 850 college and high school students from around the country attended this year.

Hillsdale's WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale received two first-place awards in the competition. Erika Kyba won first place in the Best Specialty Show (Non-Music) category for her WRFH show, “The Poetry Fix,” a five-minute weekly podcast feature that makes the beauty of classic poetry accessible to a modern audience. In each episode, Kyba reads a poem and analyzes the poet’s use of language.

Lauren Smyth was named Best News Director, Radio. Smyth’s role was to ensure that news coverage on WRFH was accurate, timely, educational, and fun. She recruited newswriters to do original reporting, provided feedback on newscasts, and planned one-time events like WRFH’s 2024 election night coverage.

“Our students are dedicated and creative,” said Scot Bertram, General Manager at WRFH. “They consistently produce outstanding content, and it is exciting to see their work recognized among some of the finest programs in the country.”  Hillsdale College students have been named finalists in the College Media Awards every year since 2018 and taken home 10 national first-place awards. This year Hillsdale had finalists in eight categories.

Western Michigan University’s student-run radio station WIDR-FM had two students receive major awards at the IBS conference. Program Director Caity Ahearne was named Best On-Air Personality and Ryan Misiak was chosen as the Best Production Director.

"The students do amazing things every day at 89.1 WIDR-FM. For Caity and Ryan to be recognized for their accomplishments is truly inspiring for all the students that participate." said Glen Dillon, Assistant Director for Student Media. "I’m so proud of the entire WIDR team and grateful to be able to work alongside these awesome students every day."

Also receiving a first place award was Michigan State University's The Impact. Students Joe DesVergnes-Christy and Oscar Henderson placed first in Best Play-by-Play Sports for their Michigan State Football vs. Iowa broadcast.

"We’re always very proud of our broadcast students at Michigan State University. It’s great to see their work recognized as some of the best in the nation, said Jeremy Whiting, Impact General Manager. "Michigan has a lot of talented young people who are about to enter the industry. Congratulations to our friends at Hillsdale College and Western Michigan University, who were also well represented in the Intercollegiate Broadcasting awards."