Kentucky Wesleyan radio station earns prestigious awards

Kentucky Wesleyan College’s FM radio station, WKWC 90.3, and the Keith and Vickie Sharber Communication Arts Program earned two prestigious awards at the Broadcast Education Association’s (BEA) “Festival of Media Arts,” announced February 11. KWC has competed and brought home awards for five consecutive years. 

BEA is the premier international academic media organization, driving insights, excellence in media production and career advancement for educators, students and professionals. BEA is concerned with electronic media programs, placing an emphasis on interactions among the purposes, developments and practices of the industry and imparting this information to future professionals. The winners were selected from a pool of 2,285 entries, representing over 300 colleges and universities.

Communication arts majors Embry Burgess ’25 and Daylin Tolgo ’25 received third place in the Student Comedy or Drama competition. This category competed among examples of radio dramas and radio-theater type productions. Burgess and Tolgo produced a segment they wrote together in KWC’s audio production class within the Communication Arts Program and taught by Instructor and WKWC Manager Derik Hancock in 2024.

Hancock received an Award of Excellence in the Long-Form Production in the Faculty competition. Hancock’s submission featured a radio documentary presented by WKWC and Theatre Workshop of Owensboro. “Rushmore Revisted” was adapted for radio by Hancock and Brett A. Mills from the script written and arranged by Mills. The entire production was directed and produced by Hancock and featured voice actors from Theatre Workshop and KWC students.

“To be recognized by the BEA is an amazing accomplishment for colleges and universities,” says Derik Hancock. “The competition in every category was intense this year, and this is quite an honor.”

“I am very proud of Embry and Daylin and of all the KWC students who competed,” continues Hancock. “We believe in every student and support their hard work.”

Shanel Benjamin ’25, Sam Hardesty ’27 and Daniel Hatcher ’27 also submitted entries in news, sports and podcasts.

“I am proud of the work our students are doing within our Communication Arts Program,” said Dr. Andrew Bolin, division chair of Fine Arts and Humanities and program coordinator and professor of the Keith and Vickie Sharber Communication Arts Program. “We are a training ground for students to get real-world experience in the world of digital media; it is exciting to showcase what they and faculty are doing on an international stage with recognition for their efforts.”

For more information about WKWC and to listen to the students’ shows, podcasts and more, visit WKWC.org.