WUSM-FM, The University of Southern Mississippi’s official radio station, will participate in College Radio Day  Tuesday.

College Radio Day was founded almost three years ago as an original idea of Rob Quicke, general manager at WPSC-FM at William Paterson University in New Jersey. According to the official website, the mission of College Radio Day is to raise global awareness of both college and high school radio stations and to gain new regular listeners.

WUSM, which has been involved with College Radio Day since its launch, will honor the day by highlighting local tunes.

“We’re going to have live music during Southern Miss Today, which is usually a talk show thing,” said Justin Martin, WUSM general manager. “We’re going to really celebrate Hattiesburg’s music.”

Martin said it’s important for students to have a media outlet to call their own when “a lot of time, student voices get drowned out by other sources.”

When asked about College Radio Day, Aaron Carroll, a disk jockey for WUSM and a junior broadcast journalism major, said, “Every day is radio day!”

Carroll, who is enrolled in Martin’s radio production class, said he’s learning a great deal through hands-on work.

“You need a lot more than a good voice; you need to build a connection with the listeners,” he said. “That’s what Justin is teaching me.”

According to Martin, WUSM is a great outlet for students looking to do radio professionally, “We’re not hung on things being perfect,” he said.

Since 2012, College Radio Day has been recognized outside of the United States as World College Radio Day with more than 30 countries participating in the celebration.