A pair of enterprising students are set to enrich life at Bermuda College — inspiring others to reach beyond a mere passing grade, even as they revive the college’s student radio product.

The “B Great” campaign is the brainchild of LaToya Brangman and Ethan Rogers, who aim to cross class with extracurricular activity on the campus airwaves.

Its genesis came to LaToya, 26, after a show by rapper Jay-Z left the lyrics “don’t be good, be great” stuck in her head.

“I was thinking of ways to incorporate academics with radio,” explained LaToya, already an experienced DJ from school in New York. “I found out the passing grade here was a C. I figured instead of students on average being OK with a C grade, maybe we could give ourselves the incentive to get B’s and higher.”

Eighteen-year-old Ethan comes from a background in media, mainly video — he was among five students featured in last summer’s Youth Film Festival offered by the Bermuda National Gallery. He also has some experience in broadcasting, which is how he linked with LaToya.

“Promoting this by using radio is all about finding a better way to make education more enjoyable,” Ethan said.

Campus radio stations are mainstay of student life at colleges elsewhere in the world, but at Bermuda College, getting a student radio package running has been a work in progress. Helping to get a station going here on the Island was a dream of LaToya’s.

“I DJ’d at different college stations — why not bring it home?” she said. “I know at one point they at least tried to have it here.”

It’s another example of the power of internet-equipped mobile technology that has upended the old order, making way for do-it-yourself media: online radio.

The app for Bermuda College students, TuneIn, this year reached 50 million monthly listeners.

To hear what’s airing, download TuneIn and search for Bermuda College radio — broadcast not from a traditional station’s studio, but off LaToya’s laptop.

“Students are never away from their phones,” said Ethan, the self-professed “media guy” and production manager for their programme, Live Inspired.

The current package can cater to 500 online listeners. If more businesses can offer support, Bermuda College radio could surge to 2,500 listeners.

Meanwhile, Ethan and LaToya are brainstorming for ways to make “B Great” effective when it’s launched in January, marking the start of the new semester.

“We’ll have some personalities on the radio, talking about what’s going on in the community and some of the positivity that’s out there,” LaToya explained. “We’ll have music so that we don’t throw too much out there at one time.”

Added Ethan: “That’s where I’ll come in, with video interviews and different public service announcements, getting the message of what we’re doing out there. The whole point is to bring the college community together and provide music as well to keep people entertained. We want to build the social atmosphere here at the college.”

Another aspect of the campaign is for local vendors to offer discounts to full-time Bermuda college students who get three or more B’s in a semester.

Getting a studio presence in the Student Centre will boost their ability to focus on campus personalities, notable “class clowns” and upcoming college events, while the two strive in their own ways to “B Great” in their own studies. Both are currently pursuing Associates degrees: Ethan, in his first semester, is studying art and design, while LaToya, in her third semester, studies English literature.

Acknowledging that college life has its inevitable stresses, LaToya said: “Everybody has their days. It’s not always going to be sun shining and great stuff going on. We just want to give it that extra push.”

To learn more about the campaign and get involved, email Ethan and LaToya at bc227919@college.bm.