Over the summer, Hit-Mix 88.9 WEIU was awarded a spot on gearpatrol.com’s 10 College Radio Stations that Rock.

On July 8, the online media site, based out of New York, gave 10 college radio stations from all over the country recognition overall for the way they operate.

The site granted Hit-Mix 88.9 WEIU the honor for “claiming to offer “the story of your life in music,” WEIU offers — first and foremost — professional training for its student radio hopefuls, and also aims for quality in its music and community broadcasting.”

Although Hit-Mix 88.9 was not nominated for this title and did not submit any work, the radio station’s director, Jeffrey Owens, was quite pleased.

“It’s a result of hard work and dedication to our craft,” Owens said. “What makes us stick out (from other college radio stations) is our students love the station and love the fact they have a great interactive audience who use the station on a daily basis.”

The radio station is live from 6-9 a.m. and has students working it all day.

It also has a flagship for Eastern football and basketball. No day looks the same to the radio team.

Past awards include students winning individual awards such as the National Sportscaster of the Year, IBA-U Silver Dome Awards, CBI Awards, and Statewide PSA Awards.

The station has been a finalist for the MTV-U Woodie Award for the Best College Radio Station in the country the last two years and was named a Top 20 College Radio Station That Rocks by bestcollegereviews.org.

Production supervisor Robert Calhoun said he takes pride in these awards.

“It is another feather in our cap that we are getting nationally recognized. It shows the hard work that our students put in is being appreciated, not only locally, but also throughout the country,” Calhoun said.

He said Hit-Mix 88.9 WEIU has what it takes to stand out in the entertainment crowd, both in a collegiate setting as well as a professional setting.

“We are not like any other radio station in the country. We play hit music from the ‘50s to today. Most stations will play a hodgepodge of many different genres and songs that have not been hits. We feel our format better prepares our students to get jobs following college,” Calhoun said.

Several student workers at the radio station are up for IBA-U Silver Dome Awards.

The finalists will be announced soon, Calhoun said.

Two-year on-air personality James Bateman said he couldn’t be happier for the title deliverance from Gear Patrol.

“I showed my mom after I read it and I was so proud to be a part of something that was getting national attention,” Bateman said. “For a college radio station that is considered a small school compared to some of the other schools on the list, it is nice to see all the hard work we do paid off.”

He added this is the biggest nomination the radio station has received since he started working on-air.

Rose Sacco can be reached at 581-2812 or at rcsacco@eiu.edu