Tower-Fall-2020

8 TOWER | FALL 2020 NEWS NOTES university accolades KURises in U.S. News &World Report Kutztown was named a “Best Regional University” in the U.S. News and World Report’s annual ranking of U.S. colleges and universities. In September 2019, U.S. News ranked KU as No. 126 in the first tier of the Best Regional Universities for the northern region, 11 spots higher than last year, and KU’s highest jump in a decade. KU has been ranked in the first tier since 2011. Designated One of the Best Universities in the Northeast Kutztown University was featured in Princeton Review’s “Best in the Northeast” list for 2020. KU is among 224 institutions named to the regional list and has been named to the list more than a dozen times in the last 20 years. KU Radio Brings Home the Gold Kutztown University Radio (KUR) won an illustrious Golden Microphone and two runner-up awards at the 2020 Intercollegiate Broadcasting System (IBS) Awards in March. KUR personalities Jakel and Bigfoot brought back gold in Best On-Air Charity Radio Pledge Drive, and KUR was awarded runner-up for Best Station Giveaway for its phone-wallet giveaway, as well as runner-up in Best Use of Sound Effects, thanks to Elijah Guerrero’s KUR Mall Opener segment. Previous years have included Golden Microphone Awards for Best News Interview and Best Use of Social Media, creating a legacy of excellence for KUR. Blues and Rock Ensemble I Honored for Third Consecutive Year DownBeat Magazine, one of the premier and longest-running jazz and commercial music magazines in the U.S., has honored Kutztown for the third year in a row, placing the ensemble in the Undergraduate College Outstanding Performance category of its annual Student Music Awards. The ensemble is under the direction of Dr. Kevin Kjos, director of commercial music studies, jazz minor, Rock Ensemble I and commercial composition at KU since 1998. With his guidance, students wrote arrangements for the songs performed and submitted to DownBeat for consideration.