What was supposed to be a celebratory five-day trip to the IBS (Intercollegiate Broadcasting System) College Awards in New York City quickly spiraled into a cross-country endurance challenge.
From emergency weather orders to a night spent stranded in the North, the WJMU executive board learned that the best stories sometimes happen when the mics are turned off.
The weekend began with the bright lights of the Sheraton New York Times Square. The IBS College Awards are a yearly celebration of student media excellence, and this year, WJMU arrived with a heavy-hitting lineup of nominations.
The energy was high as the station was recognized in four categories: Best Show Promo (Jenn Gidney), Best PSA (Alayna Schultz, Abby Stevens, and Lindsey Ohl), and Best Station ID (Olivia Hawley and Medi Lembelembe). The highlight of the night came when AJ Hodge (’27) and Helena Hashimoto (’25) were announced as national winners for Best Celebrity or Artist Interview for their feature on Nick Offerman.
And then came the storm (literally) just as WJMU prepared to head home, as “Mamdani Madness” hit. Due to a travel ban issued by NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the city’s transit hubs ground to a halt. Flights were delayed, re-routed, and eventually cancelled.
What followed was a logistical nightmare for WJMU that transformed a simple flight from LaGuardia back to St. Louis into a four-state odyssey. The team’s route home became a dizzying list of layovers: New York to Orlando, Orlando to Minneapolis, Minneapolis to Atlanta, and finally, Atlanta to St. Louis.
By the time the team touched down at Lambert International, they had made an overnight stay in the Twin Cities to make up for their missed connecting flight and practically circumnavigated the eastern half of the United States, proving that their resilience in the airport terminals was just as award-worthy as their work behind the microphone.
Station Advisor Sam Meister looked back on the wild ride with a sense of awe.
“I think IBS is a fantastic opportunity to see our students interact with others studying media from around the country,” he said. “This conference welcomes station staffers from institutions with less than 1,000 students, as well as some of the largest DI/R1schools with enrollment over 25,000. Seeing Millikin students interact with this swath of peers is always exciting, especially as the conference takes place in perhaps the most media-centric place on earth, New York City.”
Promotions Director AJ Hodge also had several key takeaways from the experience.
“The conference this year gave me so many good ideas for how I can help expand the station. . . I never thought about the possibility of show ideas until I went to the radio industry session,” she said.
From national recognition in Times Square to a multi-city endurance challenge across the country, WJMU’s IBS weekend offered both celebration and chaos. In the end, despite the turbulence both literal and logistical, Millikin didn’t just take home the mic.
They earned it.
