Rebirth of Student Radio

By Dr. Roger Davis Gatchet

The story of student radio on ENMU’s campus begins with KENW. According to Duane Ryan, the founder and long-time director of Broadcasting at KENW, ENMU’s first radio station aired its maiden broadcast on October 1, 1968. The station’s studio, which was located in the attic of the Administration building in a space built by students and Mr. Ryan himself, was affectionately nicknamed the “Tower Room” (it sounded cooler than “the attic”) and outfitted with state-of-the art acoustic wall tiles crafted from cardboard egg cartons donated by the school cafeteria. In its heyday, anywhere between 150 and 200 students worked there each semester.

Shortly after the launch of KENW, Mr. Ryan and his student staff began work on constructing a new AM station in the same space that housed the FM operation, which eventually moved to the second floor of the Campus Union Building (some may recall the letters “KZIA” above a locked, forgotten door there after it briefly went defunct in the 2000s). The student station’s origins date back to 1969, when it started as an unlicensed, ultra low-power AM Station that aired live broadcasts from 4 p.m. until midnight on a “closed circuit” to the campus dorms (in reality, it could be heard throughout Portales and nearly half-way to nearby Clovis). An article published in The Chase on September 19, 1969 notes that it featured “hourly news and occasional sports and weather spots, . . . interspersed in the hard rock, soul, and top twenty musical format.”

Student DJ, DJ JMR, hosts a weekly music and talk program called “Let’s Talk TRiO.”

Photo by Roger Gatchet

In 1974 the station was formally handed over to the Department of Communication, where it could better serve students interested in careers in radio broadcasting. Between 1974 and 2008, the station went through various periods of bustling activity interspersed with long stretches of dead air, depending on who was volunteering there at the time.

Now, thanks to the efforts of the students, faculty, and staff at KENW and the Department of Communication, ENMU’s student radio station is poised to make a grand comeback this year. Now known as Hound Waves, student radio re-launched as a streaming Internet station this past summer from its new professional studio in the Communication Center. The station already has a small army of student volunteers hosting an eclectic array of original programs that stream online 24/7 at www. enmu.edu/radio.

Hound Waves’ mission is to serve ENMU and the surrounding community by providing an alternative to commercial radio through diverse music, talk, and community programs. Hound Waves is also proud to be the home of the Department of Communication’s Theater of the Mind oldtime radio drama series.

You can learn more about Hound Waves by connecting with the station on Facebook at facebook.com/ENMUStudentRadio or on Twitter @ENMURADIO.