ASI club KDHR looking for hosts and interns
For a lot of students at Dominguez Hills, the Loker Student Union is home base. It’s a place where Toros can feel a sense of belonging, whether they’re meeting up with friends to grab a bite together or shopping for a sweatshirt in the bookstore.
LSU is also home to KDHR, Dominguez Hills’ on-campus radio station. The student-run station has spun the hits for Toros since 2004 – it’s radio built for students, by students.
The radio station offers much more than music and provides opportunities for students to hone their marketing, event planning, podcasting, and radio broadcast skills. KDHR’s mics aren’t just for communications or journalism students. It is a place for creatives of all majors to broadcast their talents on a bigger stage.
KDHR hosts often serve as emcees for campus wide events. This past September, the station kicked off the fall semester with the “Barbie & Friends Dance Party” – the event had Toros thinking (hot) pink in the LSU Ballroom. Other KDHR events included the annual Halloween Haunt and Noviembre Sin Ti, which was hosted by Latinx Cultural Resource Center.
“I think the whole mission of KDHR was to provide a platform for students that was separate from what they are involved in on campus and what they’re already doing in their classes,” said Raven Emmert, the marketing and public relations coordinator for Associated Students, Inc.
On the air, students are also developing original content in the form of podcasts.
Listeners can livestream KDHR on demand.
Senior journalism student Mercy Calvo-Cruz joined KDHR in Fall 2019. She said the station offered her the perfect opportunity to “have some fun” and launch her own podcast. “When I lived in the dorms, I experimented with my interests. I wanted to see what it was like to make a podcast.” Calvo-Cruz said.
As a podcast host, Calvo-Cruz learned how to record tape, develop scripts and use studio equipment. Anyone interested in getting a podcast off the ground is invited to pitch an idea to the station by submitting a host application.
Associated Students, Inc. owns the radio station and selects broadcast radio and podcast hosts by application. The goal of the application process is to make sure the club can support creative interests while allowing the hosts to display individuality through their shows.
“You’re able to come into the studio[and] talk about the issues that matter to you,” Emmert said.
“It’s a great break from the classroom and responsibilities of being a student. I think that’s something that students really need more of.”
In addition to hosting opportunities via podcast and broadcast radio, the station also provides internships. Calvo-Cruz applied for an internship and joined the station as a production assistant. The position allowed her the creativity to expand the current studio from a radio broadcast station with live programming to a more modernized podcast studio. The remodeled studio now hosts a platform for on-demand recordings edited for online streaming platforms.
“We want to encourage students to utilize their resources and have some fun. It’s supposed to be fun,” Calvo-Cruz said.
Students can submit an application to intern by visiting the ASI office at LSU 231. Internships are a maximum of 20 hours per week.