Date: Jun 09, 2011

WRHU Staff Members Rack Up State and Local Awards

Hofstra University radio station wins top honors from Press Club of Long Island and NY AP Broadcasters Association; WRHU staffer tapped as L.I. College Journalist of the Year

Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY – Student staff members of WRHU, Radio Hofstra University, took a combined five first-place awards in the 2011 Press Club of Long Island (PCLI) Awards and the 2011 New York Associated Press Broadcasters Association College Contest.

Besides being recognized for feature, news and sports reporting, WRHU staffer Maria Betzios, Hofstra ’11, was honored by the Press Club of Long Island and the region’s College Journalist of the Year, which comes with a $1,000 scholarship.

John T. Santucci, who also graduated in May, won first-place awards in radio news reporting and radio feature reporting while Anthony Barra, WRHU’s Station Manager, earned a first-place honor for radio sports reporting.

Farhan Husain, WRHU’s Morning Show Producer, won first-place for radio reporting in the New York Associated Press Broadcasters Association college contest, while Santucci, Betzios and Phil Eslick took the top prize in the best local radio newscast category. Husain, Matt Napolitano, Jackie DeTore and Veronica Kennedy won a special mention in the best radio newscast category.

Besides the student journalists, Executive Dean Lawrence Levy of the National Center for Suburban Studies® at Hofstra University won three first-place prizes in the PCLI awards for op-ed columns and feature stories he wrote for Newsday and Long Island Pulse magazine.

WRHU is Long Island’s oldest non-commercial radio station, broadcasting 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 88.7FM and online at www.wrhu.org. With a staff of more than 175 members, and a program schedule that includes 42 varying formats, the award-winning radio station prides itself on pre-professional broadcast training and development as part of Hofstra’s School of Communication.

Hofstra University is a dynamic private institution where students can choose from about 140 undergraduate and more than 150 graduate programs in liberal arts and sciences, business; engineering; communication; education, health and human services; and honors studies, as well as a School of Law and the Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine. The University also provides excellent facilities with state-of-the-art technology, extensive library resources and internship programs that match students' interests and abilities with appropriate companies and organizations. The Hofstra community is driven, dynamic and energetic, helping students find and focus their strengths to prepare them for a successful future.

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