A student from Wayne State College, Grant Ferrell, was nominated for an award from the College Broadcasting Incorporation.  

Ferrell, who has been a member of the campus radio station KWSC for three years, earned the nomination for Best Feature News Reporting with his piece “Detour Nebraska: Nebraska Legislature.” The piece goes over how Nebraska utilizes a unicameral, or one party system, as opposed to the bicameral set up that is seen in all 49 other states.  

When asked about the making of the piece, Ferrell said he had to be careful as to stay non-biased. The last session of the legislature included debate over controversial topics such as transgender and abortion legislation, and a bill to add funding for private schools.  

“Detour Nebraska” covers more than just Nebraskan government. Rather, it covers many things throughout the state, from things like state or county history to even local birds.  

“I like Nebraska, I’ve been all over the place,” Ferrell said. 

Ferrell himself has travelled across the state to all 93 counties.  

“Each one has their own special nugget of history that you otherwise wouldn’t know,” he said. “A lot of the counties don’t have cities or towns, or incorporated villages or anything.” 

Ferrell wasn’t the only one at KWSC to be nominated for an award. Advisor Sean Ahern, a WSC professor, was nominated for the Dave Black Excellence in Advising award. The award is named after Dave Black, who was a long-time member of CBI and founded a college radio station at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The award is given to those advisers who play a distinguished role in advising student electronic media.  

“I think it just was nice to hear my students and my colleagues appreciate my work here,” Ahern said, in reference to being nominated for the award. “When you hear from your peers, it makes it a lot better.” 

Ahern said that while KWSC has always been a member of CBI, the station started submitting pieces in 2022, and has really pushed to keep submitting content. Between 23 and 25 submissions were sent in by KWSC members last year. Ahern stated that the KWSC image has grown on campus, and that he is proud of everyone at the station, and that KWSC is an example of an educational and non-commercial radio station that colleges are all about. 

When asked about Ferrell being nominated, he spoke at length about his student. 

“I think Grant talking about the unicameral here in Nebraska and coupling that with the current cultural issues nationally is a very interesting story because it shows what Nebraskans can do when they work together,” Ahern said.  

CBI takes submissions all across the nation, schools competing against one another regardless of size. To have Ferrell’s submission from KWSC nominated for an award is no easy feat, and speaks to the hard work necessary. 

“I think it shows that even if you are a small college, you can find interesting stories and Grant has done that with aplomb,” Ahern said. 

CBI is a member-driven organization that serves students and advisers of electronic media outlets, at both the high school and collegiate level. They work to provide all members with invaluable educational and professional opportunities, as well as to facilitate advocacy.  

The 2023 Convention will be held in Orlando, Florida, October 18-21, and until then, Ahern and Ferrell will wait to see if their nominations made it to the top. For more information on CBI, visit their website at askcbi.org. For more information on KWSC FM, email Advisor Sean Ahern at