WFVS wins Station of the Year

The 29th Annual Black College Radio and Television Annual Awards Banquet, held April 3-6 at Atlanta’s Renaissance Downtown Hotel, ended on an exciting note for WFVS staff members. The Fort Valley State University crowd jumped to their feet when their station was announced as Station of the Year. On stage, BCR host Lo Jelks handed a beautiful plaque to station manager Shirley Ellis, who accepted the award and a $1,000 cash prize on behalf of the staff.

“Amazing,” Ellis said, “This is an amazing feeling. I’m proud to accept this prestigious award on behalf of The Fort Valley State University.”

Every year, Historically Black Colleges and Universities throughout the country compete for the award by submitting a CD highlighting their station’s special features with a brief synopsis of programming to the BCR Awards Committee.

According to Jelks, the panel of professional judges selected WFVS for the top award because of the quality of the station’s presentation and its commitment to community service.

“BCR doesn’t just depend on what the station says it is doing to impact the community,” said Jelks. “We also monitor the stations and get feedback from the people outside of the station to determine the station of the year. WFVS proved to live up to its commitments.”

“You could not imagine the utter excitement and pride we, the campus radio staff members, felt,’” said Ellis. “It was like beautiful music to our ears.”

“I knew that we were the winner when Mr. Jelks called out the letter V,” said WFVS Station Program Director Randy Jackson. “It’s a great feeling to know that all of our hard work paid off.”

In addition to the awards ceremony, the station staff attended a three-day conference, “The Leading Edge of Excellence in Broadcast Education,” – a networking event for college students with professionals in the broadcasting industry. Friday’s keynote speaker was Patricia Russell-McCloud, J.D.

--written bty Christina Milton, office of Marketing and Communications