During the 10th anniversary of College Radio Foundation's Annual Vinylthon, OWWR - Old Westbury Web Radio went above and beyond the call and earned recognition for playing 72 hours of music using only vinyl albums.
By doing so, OWWR earned the Golden Slip Mat Award and the new Diamond Slip Mat Award for having students and volunteers play 24 and 48 hours of music, respectively, during this annual fundraiser for the College Radio Foundation.
“I had a vision to bring everybody together and just do something crazy and spin vinyl for as long as we possibly can,” said Patrec Alexander Jones-Brown, a junior Media and Communications major from Huntington, New York, and program director for the radio station. “Professor Manfredi said that if we can staff this, then it's a go, and I was like, we're definitely going to staff this!”
Organized by the Foundation, Vinylthon is an annual event held to celebrate the format of vinyl music by having campus radio stations play at least one hour of vinyl-only music during the two days the event is scheduled.
For Vinylthon 2025, the OWWR team began broadcasting at 12 a.m. on Friday, April 11, and continued straight through until 4 p.m. on Monday, April 14. SUNY Old Westbury’s official campus radio station was one of more than 230 stations taking part in the event across the country and around the world.
“The first time I did our wonderful, vinyl fun celebration, there were maybe 2 or 3 jocks doing it, and we went for 24 hours,” said Joelle Desrosiers, a class of 2020 Media and Communications graduate who returned to campus to participate in Vinylthon 2025. “Now, we did 3 days, and it's crazy. We were all tired, but we made it work.”
Jones-Brown added, “There's something different and special when you're spinning vinyl than just playing from your Spotify, your Apple Music. You have to physically do everything to have the music come through, so it was a very fun time.”
OWWR - Old Westbury Web Radio is the official radio station of SUNY Old Westbury and is on the air 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“The OWWR family is the most dedicated team a manager could ask for," OWWR Station Manager and Media and Communications Lecturer Joe Manfredi said. "This event was a special accomplishment for our students, they assumed ownership of it and earned this accolade, and we couldn’t be more proud.“
OWWR provides student, faculty, alumni, and community volunteer programming that broadcasts online, on cell phones, and via any wireless device or tablet. OWWR is a variety station that features news, sports, talk, and offers a wide variety of music programming.
