Brave New Radio, William Paterson University’s esteemed radio station, has improved their already impressive award case by hoisting their most prestigious trophy yet to be placed on their mantle: The Marconi Award.

After being nominated for the “Best Non-Commercial Station of the Year” for the third time in a four year span, WPSC finally won the coveted award. The station was already the reigning and defending “Best College Radio Station in the Country” by the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System two years in a row, but that didn’t stop Brave New Radio from reaching heights they could have never even dreamed of. The station’s General Manager Rob Quicke said that winning the award is the greatest accolade a station can win in radio.

Winning the award in itself is already an amazing feat, but the context of the station winning the award is what makes it all that more sweet. Not only did they lose the award twice in the last three years prior to the 2018 awards, but Brave New Radio was also the first college station to be nominated for the award two years in a row. Brave New Radio is also a much smaller station than the Radio Titans it beat out for the Marconi Award. Unlike NPR, WPSC is not donor funded, and is run entirely by a student staff.

Students that are a part of the station couldn’t be happier with the recent success the station has been able to achieve, and Station Manager Sebastian Escobar encapsulates the joy behind winning the award.

“We accomplished something that every station dreams of,” said Escobar. “If an actor’s end goal is to win an Oscar, a radio station’s goal is to someday win a Marconi.”

Escobar and all others overseeing the station always unselfishly direct the success of the station’s success on the students’ passion for it.

Whether it’s members of the station constantly garnering local attention towards Brave New Radio, or the countless events the station runs every year such as “Brave-a-thon,” the stations annual 24-hour event with live music being broadcasted all day or the nationally recognized “College Radio Day,” created by Quicke, Brave New Radio has put itself in a light that its radio peers can finally look up to.

Another attributed reason for the station’s final push towards winning the Marconi Award was their recent work overseas in Puerto Rico. After Hurricane Maria hit in autumn 2017, Puerto Rico as an island was devastated. Brave New Radio took initiative upon themselves, sending station members to the island to help restore one of Puerto Rico’s most well known FM radio stations: Radio Vieques. After finally restoring and rebuilding the station, WPSC and Radio Vieques partnered up to become sister stations, something that’s typically unheard of on the collegiate level. Escobar believes this is what really put Brave New Radio on the level above its competition.

Looking forward, Brave New Radio is scorching hot with its recent award streak, and shows no signs of cooling down in the near future. With programming and events as good as ever, and public and critical recognition at an all time high, WPSC plans on expanding their already successful brand.

“We’re not only here to expand locally, but nationally and internationally,” said Escobar. “The main thing for us is to keep doing what we’re doing and for more people to notice and appreciate us and hopefully use this as a launch pad to obtain more funding to take us to that next level.”