Twelve Hillsdale College students received awards across six categories in the 2023 National Student Production Awards from College Broadcasters Inc., the most winners in Hillsdale’s history.

CBI, a national organization for college radio programs, announced the finalists on Oct. 21 at the National Student Media Convention in Orlando, Florida. Six Hillsdale student radio and video productions ranked in the top four for their respective categories, according to General Manager of WRFH Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM Scot Bertram.

“Having that sheer number of finalists to begin with is a great statement about the quality of work that our students produce,” Bertram said. “The fact that we had top four finishers across the entire country is an excellent honor for the students involved.”

CBI awarded second place to senior Abigail Snyder for “Best Regularly Scheduled Entertainment Program,” and to seniors Maddy Welsh, Maggie Wackenhut, and Lauren Scott, juniors Lindsey Larkin and Jack Cote, and alumnus Christian-Peck Dimit ’23 for “Best Documentary/Public Affairs.” Junior Lauren Smyth received third place for “Best Promo” and fourth place for “Best Newscast or Sportscast” and “Best Documentary.” Alumnus Josh Barker ’23 and junior Megan Pidcock earned fourth place for “Best Special Broadcast.”

“It’s always really exciting when the radio station gets recognized that way, especially because we’ve just moved into a new space,” said Smyth, a top four winner in three categories. “To see recognition for all of this hard work, and to see the students getting so excited and producing good things with access to this new space, it’s just really exciting and a huge honor.”

Snyder has hosted “The Virtual Voyage,” an armchair travel show about Israel, since her freshman year. This is the show’s second time earning a second place in its category. 

“I was really excited because doing a radio show takes a lot of work; I put in anywhere between eight and 10 hours per episode, and that includes all the research, outlining the script, editing, post-production, contacting people for the show,” Snyder said. “It just made me feel like that work is worth it.”

Bertram said the radio station sets high standards for students who contribute shows, features, newscasts, and sportscasts. He said he credits the number of awards in the audio division to the quality shows students are accustomed to producing. 

Larkin, who helped produce “Hillsdale Student, American Hero: How Elizebeth Smith Friedman Beat the Mob and Won the War,” the second place winning “Best Documentary/Public Affairs” in the video division, said she had been anticipating the award announcements and was excited to see the documentary’s high placement.

“For us, it was a class we picked up, we did the film and our showcase, and that was that, but it’s amazing to see that other people have gotten to see it,” Larkin said. 

According to Bertram, the awards are evidence radio students produce excellent work.

“To have judges who are hearing entries from across the country from dozens of different radio stations also say you’re doing some of the best work in the country,” Bertram said. “That hopefully means a lot to the students.”