As WMLU moves to their new studio located in the renovated building of French Hall, the members and DJs get ready to continue working with their brand new equipment that was given to them by the Student Government Association (SGA) through tuition payments and donations.
The radio station received the money to invest in the new station with additional tools. WMLU’s business manager, Kyle Krupa, explains that “the money from payment dues from the members and DJs in WMLU goes to an agency account that is used to pay for utilities.” Also, SGA contributed a great deal to the changes in the station as well as giving tuition money to various organizations including WMLU, as well as the money that alumni donate to the school and radio station. Krupa handles all the money and dues that come from the station, also stating that he “delegates with SGA and works with General Manager, Keith Baldwin, to work on balancing budget, fundraising and SGA.”
The university and WMLU have been working on moving the radio station to French Hall for more than a couple of years now. The station was previously located in the basement of Hiner for years.
Due to the popularity that the radio station has been gaining through the last couple years, WMLU wanted a place where students could have their own radio show to record better. The station at French Hall is able to serve that to the members and many more with the new equipment such as the boards and Mac Computers that could potentially bring Longwood University’s radio program to a whole other level.
Krupa added, “The reason why WMLU has been able to do so much is partly because we received a little bit more money from SGA than we did last year.” WMLU was set to be in French Hall, where the extra money helped greatly with the additions of the station. French Hall is also the new house of Rotunda Studios, as well as servers for wireless connections at the university.
Money from tuitions of the student body and alumni is one of the ways that the university has been able to keep renovating the school’s facilities, and it is also the reason why WMLU was able to upgrade and move from their past radio station to their new one. Some students, however, aren’t aware that some of the money that they pay in their tuition goes to renovations that help out organizations like WMLU.
Alexandra Warrington, a sophomore, explains she “did not know that,” although she continues saying, “it’s pretty awesome that some of the tuition money goes into something like the radio station or other school organizations that not many people really ever consider or pay attention to.” Warrington is not the only student unaware of her contribution to the university’s organizations.
Krupa explains that even though “the higher classes or members of the organizations are probably aware of this, some new students may very likely be unaware.” He adds that “the money used from their tuition payments go towards organizations that have done good for the campus and help Longwood become a bigger and better school.”
Warrington also believes that it will help the radio station “with the new station and tools to become a better program that will benefit the school as a whole.”
Sophomore Mason Thomas agrees and expresses her excitement to know that she’s helping. “College students have the opportunity to be able to get better equipment to make WMLU become a better real life experience and help out other organizations in the same way,” said Thomas.
With the help of different sources like SGA, tuitions and donations, WMLU is excited to start a new journey with a better program that will benefit the school as a whole.
