With its lime green accent wall, thrift-store panda, and hand-me-down theater department sets; college radio station KSPU.org is full of quirky touches and mysterious lore. Seattle Pacific University’s online radio station is a shining example of how much can be accomplished by a tiny, motivated staff.
In the center of the action on the campus in Seattle’s North Queen Anne neighborhood, KSPU’s digs in Weter Memorial Hall are located across from a student lounge where folks linger on couches and sip on Starbucks coffee. While showing me around the station last fall, Station Manager Taylor Muñoz remarked, “I love that we are so close to everything.”
A station window overlooks a plaza, Martin Square, which serves as a gathering space and a venue for events and concerts. The nearby real estate has been a boon for KSPU, which has thrown spring concerts just outside its doors using a stage in Martin Square.
Muñoz (a college senior) shared that “events are huge” for KSPU, which hosts them quarterly. While the station’s stream is important (and what makes the organization a radio station), these live gatherings make all of the work and the connections to the audience palpable to DJs and staff. “Sometimes it’s easy to feel like no one really notices what we’re doing, but then we throw events and [see that] people really care about what we’re doing, because we get really good participation at events,” she explained.
With a roster of DJs hovering at about 5 at the time of my visit, it was amazing to hear just how much KSPU does with a small team. Media Manager Michael Miller is responsible for social media and ticket giveaways, a job that used to be shared by two people.
Although Miller (a junior) did a show at KSPU his freshman year, his interest in the station grew tremendously during a school project when he was a sophomore. Tasked with finding a journalistic “beat” for a communication class, Miller chose KSPU and did a series of interviews and pieces digging into station events and culture. That immersion prompted him to get further involved.
Muñoz first learned about KSPU at a school involvement fair when she was a freshman. A music lover already, her interest was piqued and she started writing music and show reviews for the station’s music blog, The Panda Munch. By sophomore year she was appointed Media Manager and in her junior year she was Events Coordinator. It was a clear path to leading KSPU and she revealed, “I always knew I wanted to be Station Manager.” Her music immersion is not solely located at KSPU, however. She snagged an internship at beloved Seattle music label Sub Pop her junior year, telling me that it was “one of the greatest experiences of my life.”
It’s inspiring to hear that an influential label like Sub Pop has such an affinity for college radio in its home town, with several former interns hailing from KSPU. And, both Miller and Muñoz spoke of the strong relationships that the station has built with the Seattle music scene. Not only does the station help promote up and coming artists, but it also gives away tickets to big shows featuring well-known musicians.
The online-only nature of KSPU doesn’t seem to be a hindrance at all, particularly since its young audience is glued to laptops and phones rather than terrestrial radios. According to Miller, “Nobody I know has an actual radio in their room.” That’s a change from the past, when former Seattle Pacific student radio station KSSR 660 AM beamed to AM radios on campus.
The history of student radio at Seattle Pacific University is murky, but I’ve found references to 660 AM carrier current broadcasts in the 1970s from KSSR, which was housed in Alexander Hall. That station appears to have been relatively short-lived; with plans for a radio revival underway in fall, 1999.
A campus news report from Seattle Pacific University in 1999 states:
Boomer alums might well remember the golden days of radio on the Seattle Pacific campus when KSSR broadcast in the ’70s. The student-run station eventually fell silent due to lack of interest, but a new generation returns to the airways soon, perhaps as early as this spring.
Get ready for KSPU.
The brainchild of 30-year-old transfer student Doug Russell, KSPU will be formed as a campus organization. It’s still in the planning stages with money being raised through ASSP and off-campus revenue sources…
At first, KSPU will broadcast over cable TV channel 44, which does not require federal licensing. Once the program has stable funding, Russell plans to seek permits for AM and FM broadcasting.
Today, KSPU broadcasts solely online. While much of its history is still a mystery to me, snippets of the recent past provide plenty of charm. Minutes into my visit, I learned about Woodstock, KSPU’s panda mascot. Emblazoned on the website, stickers, and other paraphernalia; the branding came to be not because of any sort of official school tradition. Perhaps a decade ago, KSPU staffers found a full panda suit, complete with panda head and decided to make it the station’s mascot. Nobody ever wears the suit, but KSPU brings the panda head to events.
A month before my visit, KSPU had a station bonding trip to a Goodwill during a leadership conference and found a stuffed panda to add to the station’s collection. “Woodstock” now has a place of honor on a KSPU couch alongside a poop emoji pillow that was scored during the same shopping spree.
The sense of camaraderie at the station was apparent. Muñoz affirmed that KSPU is a “good creative outlet” for students, with Miller adding that it’s also “a great way to have diverse perspectives” represented. They both were proud that the station was reaching folks on the small campus of around 4,000 students, telling me the sense of accomplishment felt when spotting KSPU stickers on computers and water bottles owned by people who they’d never met.
Thanks to Taylor Muñoz and Michael Miller for the tour of KSPU. This is my 157th radio station tour report and my 103rd college radio station tour. See all of my radio station tours in numerical order or by station type in our archives.
