107.7 The Bronc wins best college station
By Amethyst Martinez
RIDER’S student radio station 107.7 The Bronc brought home two awards from the 2023 Intercollegiate Broadcasting Systems (IBS) ceremony this Saturday for Best College/ University Station under 10,000 students and Best Sports Update. 20 students joined John Mozes, the general manager of The Bronc, at the award commemoration hosted this weekend in New York City.
Best Sports Update was won by junior film and television major Jake Serrano for sports radio segment, “The Overtime.” The station won the award for the second year in a row, with last year’s taken home by Rider alum Sean Harrington.
Out of eight nominations, the station brought home two, the biggest being Best College/ University Station under 10,000 students.
Taylor Tunstall, senior broadcast journalism major and student general manager of the station, described the moment the announcer called Rider’s name as “fireworks.”
“We just all shot up out of our chairs, and we were screaming and in tears,” said Tunstall. “I was genuinely shocked.”
Mozes shared the same feeling of surprise when The Bronc was announced as the winner of the award.
“They were shocked, I was shocked,” said Mozes. “I’m really happy that The Bronc was recognized … it was nice to win that award and bring it home and be the only college in New Jersey to do so too.”
Other nominees for the award included Chapman University, North Central College, Hillsdale College, Goshen College and SUNY Fredonia.
“It just shows that all of our hard work here actually pays off,” said Tunstall. “I was really excited to just win that and also experience that with the rest of the staff.”
Last year, the IBS ceremony was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the only award taken home by Rider being Best Sports Update by Harrington.
Serrano, a transfer student from Ocean County College, only joined the radio station last semester, winning the award less than a year into his time at Rider.
“I just never thought in a million years I would’ve gotten it,” said Serrano. “I’m happy people recognize the work I’m doing, because it’s not an easy field …. It’s all kind of surreal that I got it within my first two semesters.”
The station’s student workers and Mozes also hosted an IBS media panel during the conference, giving advice to those in the audience looking to learn more about how The Bronc is run.
Naa’San Carr, junior political science major and programming director for the station said, “We’ve been working really hard to be nominated and put our best foot forward for the university and for people who listen to us around the world.”
Out of all of the special moments of the weekend for the station, one stood out to Mozes in particular.
“During the bus ride home, one of my students said to me, ‘This is the first time I ever won anything … and now today, I know what it’s like to be a winner. Thank you for that experience,’” said Mozes. “I will never, ever forget those words, because to me, it’s those engaged-learning experiences that make 107.7 The Bronc and Rider University so special.”
Logan VanDine and Caroline Haviland are copy editors for The Rider News and work for 107.7 The Bronc. Neither had any part in the editing or writing of this story.
