C F R U gotta check out the campus radio station

93.3 CFRU has a wide range of programming and offers volunteer opportunities to community members passionate about local radio.

ADAM DONALDSON

Long before a stone gryphon sat in regal splendor at the south end of campus overlooking Stone Road, there was Radio Gryphon. The small signal that emanated from the old physics building would grow to 250 watts of community radio power over the next several years, and its source still sits in a corner office of the second floor of the University Centre.

Radio (like newspapers) may not be as passé or antiquated as you think, and if we may humbly submit, volunteering with CFRU 93.3 fm could be a vital part of your university experience.

Unlike many terrestrial radio stations, CFRU isn’t one thing. We’re not playing “today’s hits and yesterday’s classics” or “golden oldies”. We’re not news radio, or “shock talk”, or some kind of niche cultural programming either. We’re all those things. And none of them. And so much more.

On the talk side, CFRU has a lot of different offerings. RadiOPIRG – produced in cooperation with the Guelph branch of the Ontario Public Interest Research Group – tackles progressive politics and activism, Android’s Dungeon will take you into the world of video and tabletop gaming with reviews and interviews, and Doug Blackwood revisits the earliest days of radio weekly in Seems Like Old Times.

On the music side, Electrified Voltage will take you deeper underground than you’ve ever been by playing rock from around the world on Power Up! If you don’t like it loud, there's always Folk Roots Radio, where Jan Hall delivers on the show’s title every week with great live and recorded folk music. Like the blues? MacDee’s got you covered with Blues Around the Block.

MacDee has been a part of CFRU since the earliest days of Radio Gryphon, which is a way of telling you that if you intend on volunteering at CFRU it just might end up being a life-long commitment.

Jan Hall is also a CFRU volunteer that’s been around for decades. Dean Yundt, co-host of CFRU’s Thursday night metal show Forever Deaf, started volunteering in 1987. And then there’s Nicky Dread, who sadly passed away earlier this year, but spinning reggae music for 40 years on The Crooked Beat and helping to popularize and support the sounds of the Caribbean is a wonderful legacy.

So what makes people dedicate decades of their life to CFRU radio? Community.

At CFRU you will find a very supportive group of people who are very interested in hearing your ideas and helping you realize them in order to make your community radio station a more diverse and eclectic place.

Never been on the radio? That’s okay. You might be surprised how many CFRU hosts and programmers had never spoken into a microphone before walking into the station and completing the training. Our courteous and efficient staff will also help you mould your show and develop it so that it can be the best it can be, and then help you find an appropriate time slot to air it.

Do you like music but don’t have an extensive music library? That’s okay, we do! CFRU has a large and growing digital collection of new music, as well as a great big room full of CDs from an incredible number of music genres. And if you want to go even more old school than CDs, we’ve also got a pretty big collection of classic vinyl that’s ready to spin.

And yes, we know that not everyone’s listening to terrestrial radio anymore, which is why many CFRU programmers also turn their shows into podcast episodes that you can find on many of the finest podcast apps. CFRU is also partnered with the National Campus and Community Radio Association (NCRA), which can syndicate your show to other campus radio stations across Canada.

Outside of your great radio ambitions though, it really does come down to community here in Guelph. CFRU means something. We sponsor local festivals and events, we carry them live to air and engage with our community leaders through shows like the one I co-host, Open Sources Guelph.

This fall, there’s an election here in Guelph, and Open Sources will be carrying interviews with all the candidates running for mayor and city council and talking about the issues that matter to everyone that calls Guelph home, including you. You will be here for the next four years, and so will the next city council. There’s no better time to put your stamp on the community you’ve chosen to be a part of.

CFRU, and its predecessor Radio Gryphon, have been campus pillars for half-a-century, so you’re not just becoming part of a community, but a part of a legacy. Volunteering with CFRU isn’t necessarily a life-long commitment, but you just might end up spending a lot of time here just the same. Adam A. Donaldson is the co-host and co-producer of Open Sources Guelph and End Credits on CFRU.