UW-Madison's student radio station, WSUM, awarded UW-Madison freshman Jordan Zirbel free tuition Saturday for next semester as part of a fundraiser event.
This was the first year this type of fundraiser was held, and it was a great success, according to Erica Salkin, member of the alumni support group for the Friends of Madison Student Radio.
Zirbel said his mom called him Saturday morning, waking him up and telling him he won.
\I couldn't believe it,"" he said.
The winner had the option to take a semester of free tuition or $1,500, Zirbel said. However, he said he chose the free tuition because he felt it to be of greater value for him.
He first heard about the fundraiser through a family friend, David Black, program manager for WSUM. His mom and grandmother bought him 12 tickets, he said.
Although Zirbel does not have to contribute to next semester's tuition, he said he does not plan on quitting his job.
""I very well could stop working where I'm working if I needed to,"" he said.
However, he said the money he earns from his job which normally goes toward tuition can now go toward personal use.
Ticket sales raised over $8,000, according to WSUM station manager Rob Sarwark.
Yet money was not the main goal, according to Salkin.
""In the first year of a fundraiser, you can never quite tell what you're going to raise,"" Salkin said. ""So a big part of the goal ... was awareness of the student radio station [and] of the opportunities out there.""
The fundraiser proceedings will be going toward the station's promotions and special events and equipment needs, she said.
