The impending government shut-down didn’t stop President Barack Obama from penning some kind words about college radio in advance of World College Radio Day on October 1, 2013. In a letter submitted to College Radio Day organizers, Obama writes:
“I send greetings to all those participating in World College Radio Day 2013. Since its beginnings, radio has played an important role in shaping the debates of the day and in bringing us together around the stories and songs that capture our attention. And for generations now, college radio has carried this tradition forward on campuses across America and around the world. By empowering students to add their voices and opinions to the airwaves and connecting listeners to new ideas and artists, college radio fosters creativity, promotes emerging musicians, and serves as a platform for students to engage with one another. Uniting audiences across languages and borders, World College Radio Day celebrates the students who power these stations and the unique role college radio plays across the globe. As you tune in on World College Radio Day 2013, I wish you all the best.”
Although I doubt that Obama will get a chance to tune in to some college radio on the first day of the government shut-down, I still wonder what stations he would gravitate to if he did. Perhaps he’d listen to the stations at his alma maters (KOXY at Occidental College, WKCR at Columbia–as an added bonus former FCC commissioner Julius Genachowski had a college radio past there as the DJ “Midnight Rambler,” or WHRB at Harvard). No word on if Obama ever manned the wheels of steel himself, but I’d like to think that he at least made his way into the booth late one night with a friend or roommate, as many of his generation did.
