College Radio Stations Around the World Including Radio Campus France and WKNC at North Carolina State are Paying Tribute to WCRD
It’s that time of the year again. The time when radio stations across the world will come together to celebrate the important medium that is college radio.
The 12th annual World College Radio Day (WCRD) takes place this Friday, October 7th, and its theme for 2022 is dedicated to peace.
“In a time of global strife, we want to send the message loud and clear that student radio stands with all those who are oppressed or suffering from violence and seeks to champion justice and support sustainable peace for everyone,” wrote Collegeradio.org in July when it announced the year’s theme.
Collegeradio.org will be hosting its legendary 24-hour Global Marathon on Friday and is hoping to include Ukraine, which has been in an ongoing war with Russia since February.
The College Radio Foundation’s founder Rob Quicke has produced an audio clip where over 50 college radio stations around the world, contributed content to let Ukraine know that they stand with them.
Hear the full version here: https://soundcloud.com/collegeradioday/college-radio-stands-with-ukraine-full-version?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
“Thank you on behalf of all Ukrainian students. We have already posted this link. We want all our students to hear it. We would like to play this audio on our radio. We send the audio to all UA universities” – STUD Radio, Ukraine wrote in response.
The organization will also be asking college radio stations around the world to sign their Declaration of Supporting Peace by Student Radio Worldwide.
Thousands of students will be participating in the international event aimed at peace and will join together to raise greater, international awareness of the many college and high school radio stations that operate around the globe.
The yearly event encourages those who would not normally listen to college radio to do so and turn these people into regular listeners.
College Radio Day organizers believe that “college radio is one of the last remaining bastions of creative radio programming, free from the constrictions of having to be commercially viable, and a place where those involved in its programming believe passionately in its mission.”
It is the only free live medium that plays unsigned, local, and independent artists on a regular basis. Many famous bands today would not be where they are if they had not had their initial break on college radio. This includes Nirvana, U2, and REM.
Arguably the band that defined the College Rock genre more than any other in the 1980s may be R.E.M. The Athens-Georgia-based band had their first single “Radio Free Europe” debuted on a college radio station in 1983 and went on to have several acclaimed records and regular touring.
To celebrate this year’s event, consider tuning in on AM/FM or online to your local college radio station. You could also support the station by playing it at your place of business.
So far 610 radio stations in 40 countries and 6 continents are participating. International participants include Radio Campus France, Radio Spin Italy, Sound Radio UK, and Riot Radio in Canada.
In the U.S., participants include USC’s KXSC Radio, UCLA Radio, 90.3 The Core at Rutgers University, WYBC at Yale University, 88.1 WKNC at North Carolina University, and WNYU at New York University.
WKNC 88.1 announced on its Twitter that it will be playing 24 hours of DJed sets for this year’s event.
A full list of participating stations can be viewed here: https://www.collegeradio.org/college-radio-day/participating-stations/
College radio stations have the creative flexibility that other stations do not and provide live local sports, a variety of music, commentary on events and public affairs, as well as talk shows and game shows.
Both former President Barack Obama and the departed Queen Elizabeth II have officially recognized the importance of WCRD, which debuted in 2011.
“By empowering students to add their voices and opinions to the airwaves and connecting listeners to new ideas and artists, college radio fosters creativity, promotes emerging musicians, and serves as a platform for students to engage with one another. Uniting audiences across languages and borders…College Radio Day celebrates the students who power these stations and the unique role college radio plays across the globe,” said former President Barack Obama.
“Her Majesty…has asked me to send her warm good wishes to all concerned for a most successful conference, and enjoyable World College Radio Day,” was a message relayed from Queen Elizabeth at a previous year’s event.
College Radio Day continues to prove each year that college radio is not only alive and thriving but necessary in the media landscape.
WCRD organizers hope that the yearly event can be used as a fundraising vehicle for those individual stations that choose to participate, benefiting from the extra attention their station will receive on that day.
“Being a participant in this day is free for all college and high school radio stations (AM, FM, or online) so that together, for one day, we can lift the profile of an important form of media: college radio. It’s a day of celebration. It’s a day of live music and special interviews. It’s the day college radio comes together,” said the organizers.
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