The university radio station KSLU offers students and the surrounding community on-air programming like sports updates and music from around the world.

Since its establishment in 1974, the radio program has been functioning as a public radio broadcasting station. General Manager for KSLU Todd Delaney shared that the team strives to help students grow professionally.

“We train students to become broadcasters, and we do that in a professional studio at a professional radio station,” said Delaney. “So, it’s not just simulating you. It’s doing it for you. Students learn viable hands-on skills and get the experience that they need to be successful in the radio industry. “

According to Delaney, while some programs are produced by students, some like “World Cafe” are bought from the outside. Various programs include “Rock School,” “Cafe Italia,” “Pop Fix” and “Mic Check” among others. Some programs are live while others are recorded.

Underwriting and Development Representative Rachael Beard shared that the radio station tries to make programs informative for the variety of listeners.

“It’s a great community resource because we are very specifically here for the community as a public station and here for the students,” said Beard. “So, the information we share we try to make sure is valuable content for variety of listeners. We are here for Southeastern. We are the university’s radio station. We want to make sure our students have the information about events going on, or the news updates.”

According to Delaney, the program that has been running for the longest is “Point of View,” which is now hosted by Associate Professor of Communication Dr. Amber Narro.

“It has been running since 1986, been on the air for a long time,” said Delaney. “’Rock School’ is another one that’s run by Dr. Joe Burns. He’s been doing that since 2007.”

Beard initially worked as a student worker for “Cafe Italia.” She shared how working for KSLU helped her.

“That was a really great experience for me as a student because it helped with my writing skills, public speaking skills, general development, finding information, preparing shows, and things like that help you get a different mind set.”

Beard enjoys seeing students grow up and take skills from the station into their career field.

“As a staff member, it’s been an amazing experience to watch our students grow, see how much they enjoy doing what they do, see their passion for radio,” said Beard. “Even if they aren’t planning to go into the radio necessarily, see how they will take these experiences and how they translate into their field of career, that’s been really great.”

Delaney encouraged passionate students to apply to be a part of the radio station. He also encouraged students to tune in to KSLU 90.9 FM.

The university radio station can also be heard online at www.kslu.org.