WFUV’s sixth Annual Gala paid tribute to prolific singer and songwriter Rosanne Cash, veteran newscaster Sam Donaldson, and legendary sportscaster Bob Costas at a benefit held May 9 at the Edison Ballroom on West 47th Street. The station’s community service award went to the Agnes Varis Charitable Trust, which supports affordable access to the arts, education, and healthcare.

A Grammy-winning artist and author of a critically acclaimed memoir, Cash spoke warmly about WFUV’s support upon receiving the 2013 Artist of the Year Award.

“[It’s great] to know that my favorite radio station likes me back!” she said. The daughter of Johnny Cash also praised the station for playing an eclectic mix of artists.

“It moves me to know that between Miles Davis and Bill Monroe and Patsy Cline and Buffalo Springfield, there’s a place for me.”

Cash and her band treated more than 300 guests to a rousing performance at the gala’s close, playing ballads and a foot stomping number, “Radio Operator,” about her father’s Army service in Germany and his longing for her mother back in San Antonio.

On hand to celebrate were special guests Suzanne Vega, Marc Cohn and Elizabeth Vargas, Pete and Maura Kennedy (The Kennedys), Garland Jeffreys, and Southside Johnny. The evening was filled with accolades for the station, which not only champions talented new artists, but also provides a training ground in news, sports, and music broadcasting for about 80 Fordham students each year.

“WFUV is New York’s most interesting, most creative radio station, hands down,” said Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham. “Tonight is very ecumenical for us,” he joked, noting that Fordham and FUV, two Bronx institutions, were celebrating Costas, a man from Queens, and Donaldson, who is from Texas. He called them both men of “extraordinary insight and courage.”

Presenting Donaldson with the Charles Osgood Lifetime Achievement Award in Broadcast Journalism was Osgood himself, a 1954 Fordham graduate. “[Donaldson’s] fellow news broadcasters regard him as one of the best ever,” said Osgood, host of CBS Sunday Morning and an FUV alumnus.

In accepting the award, Donaldson reminisced about his decades-long coverage of the Vietnam War and of the White House. “When we started it was so much simpler,” said the 46-year ABC News veteran, yet he praised today’s “tough” broadcasters and the technology that allows them to deliver the news almost immediately.

Iconic sportscaster Bob Costas, winner of 24 Emmys and numerous other awards, was honored with the Vin Scully Lifetime Achievement Award in Sports Broadcasting. Scully, a 1949 Fordham graduate, provided a video introduction recorded at Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles.

“To receive an award with Vin Scully’s name attached to it is really pretty much the pinnacle,” said Costas, who kept the audience rapt by dramatically reading from the transcript of Scully’s call of Dodger Sandy Koufax’s perfect game in 1965.

Emceed by WFUV’s DJs, including Program Director Rita Houston and Morning Host Corny O’Connell, LAW ’91, the evening included a cocktail hour, an opening performance by musician Alejandro Escovedo, and a live auction. Guests bid on a songwriting lesson from  Cash, a private concert with the band the Lone Bellow, and a meet-and-greet with Costas at a New York Giants game, among other items. Bidding for additional items continues until May 23 on Charity Buzz.

Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and author, Rosanne Cash, will be feted as WFUV’s “Artist of the Year”; Sam Donaldson, veteran reporter/anchor and ABC contributor, will receive the Charles Osgood Lifetime Achievement Award in Broadcast Journalism; and sportscaster and commentator Bob Costas will receive the Vin Scully Lifetime Achievement Award in Sports Broadcasting at the station’s sixth annual gala.

Also to be honored with a Community Service Award is the The Agnes Varis Charitable Trust, established by Agnes Varis to support affordable access to the arts, education, and healthcare.

The benefit in support of Fordham University’s “Rock and Roots” public radio station will be held at the Edison Ballroom in New York City. Attendees will be treated to a performance by Rosanne Cash.

Cash is one of America’s pre-eminent singers and songwriters. With 12 albums and 11 number one singles to her credit, she has navigated her own path between country and rock, roots and pop, for more than 30 years. Writing songs that are finely-wrought vignettes, both highly personal and universally appealing, she is the keeper of an extraordinary family legacy, the eldest child of Johnny Cash and stepdaughter of June Carter Cash.

As a prose writer, she has published a collection of short stories, a children’s book, and a critically praised memoir, and she has had essays and fiction appear in various collections and publications. For her contributions, not just to music, but also contemporary arts and culture, WFUV is pleased to honor her as our 2013 Artist of the Year.

Lifetime Achievement Awards will be given to multiple award-winning sportscaster, Bob Costas and to ABC News veteran, Sam Donaldson. Costas and Donaldson were nominated and selected by well-known colleagues in their respective fields, many of whom began their careers at WFUV.

The annual gala, now in its sixth year, has raised more than $2 million for WFUV (90.7 FM). Previous WFUV gala honorees include Paul Simon, Emmylou Harris, Levon Helm, Dick Enberg, the late Ernie Harwell, Jim Lehrer, Tom Brokaw, Vin Scully, FCRH ’49 and Charles Osgood, FCRH ’54.

A Community Service Award will go to  the Agnes Varis Charitable Trust, which supports affordable access to the arts, education, and healthcare. The trust is named in honor of Agnes Varis, a business leader, who co-founded two pharmaceutical companies.

For more information about the event or to purchase tickets, please visit http://www.wfuv.org/gala, email [email protected] or call 212-930-8898.