Students filter into a conference room inside the KRVS studios for their weekly strategy meeting. The walls are adorned with old music posters and portraits featuring Louisiana musical legends like Clifton Chenier and Canray Fontenot. Their conversation ranges from broken-down cars to nostalgic songs and cat cafés, before quickly rounding back to station management. They are the faces of student radio broadcasting on KRVS 88.7 HD2, a new digital channel playing music curated by and for students.
The channel, dubbed KampusFM, hit the airwaves on Oct. 31, 2023, nearly four months after the anniversary of KRVS’ first broadcast 60 years before. When KRVS began broadcasting in 1963, it was student run, billing itself as the “strongest force on campus in building up the University school spirit.” Today, with a potential audience of thousands of University of Louisiana at Lafayette students plus a broader global audience through the NPR affiliate’s online platform, KampusFM is ready to carry that legacy to a new generation of listeners.
Listeners who tune into KampusFM on weekday mornings will likely hear the voice of Kaley Mestayer broadcasting from the station’s control room. Mestayer, a business management senior, is the rookie station’s first DJ and handles live spots during 15-minute breaks when students are changing classes. The rest of the programming is automated, running into the evening and overnight hours with pre-recorded service announcements by other student volunteers.
Part of what distinguishes KampusFM from a generic playlist is utility. Between a setlist featuring indie bands such as Pony Girl and K-pop stars such as Jungkook, Mestayer provides updates on student organization meetings and upcoming events on campus. According to Mestayer, keeping listeners current with what’s happening adds value to the station as a source of information to the student body. “We’ve kind of wrapped this whole concept around what people are doing all day instead of just blasting music at them indiscriminately, which I think is really cool,” said Mestayer.
KampusFM’s role as an “information pipeline” was part of Kris Wotipka’s vision when he laid the groundwork for the student station. Wotipka, lovingly referred to as the “Old Dude” by the students, is the director of operations for KRVS and a guiding force as the station gains its footing.
Wotipka has been integral to KampusFM’s early launch but emphasized that the students retain creative and strategic control of the station. He said he’s impressed by how fast the students are adapting to running the station, exceeding the time frame of the station’s launch and early operation by a few months. “My whole goal for this was to plant some seeds, watch it develop, and then every once in a while, give it a little nudge here or there,” said Wotipka. “As soon as the students feel ownership in what they’re doing, then it’s personal, and they will fight for it.”
KRVS’ first broadcast 60 years ago was limited to 10 watts, covering an area that was barely able to reach the campus’ edge. Now, the station broadcasts at 100,000 watts and, with the addition of the HD digital streams, can reach listeners worldwide. Technology has changed since that first broadcast six decades ago, but the station’s mission remains the same. Cheryl Devall, KRVS general manager, said this latest embodiment of student radio is an homage to the origins of KRVS. “It’s really a way to honor the way the station began,” said Devall. “I want people at UL Lafayette to know that we are here. We are here to serve, and we are committed to an educational mission on so many levels.”
KampusFM relies on a core group of student volunteers who handle marketing, graphic design, playlist curation and recruitment efforts. These students come from various majors and backgrounds and naturally fit into roles that best serve their strengths and talents.
Marketing senior Tamir Bryant, who contributes to the station’s promotional activities, said he appreciated the collaborative nature among his fellow volunteers. He said he’s fortunate to be a part of a great team. “We have an interesting group of people that would have never run across each other,” said Bryant. “I think that’s what’s kind of beautiful about it. I don’t know how I got this lucky.”
Photo caption: (from top) KampusFM DJ, Kaley Mestayer, takes notes before broadcasting her morning announcements / Fred Jolivet adjusts audio levels in the KRVS studio in a 1977 L’Acadien photo. / KampusFM members from left: Cathryn Battles, Chloe Matherne, Micah Thurman, Tamir Bryant, Ray Selle, Kaley Mestayer, Lucy Ortiz, Lane Hallum, Beth Harris and Adam Cortez Photo credit: Doug Dugas / University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Special Collections / University of Louisiana at Lafayette
