I recently heard about the planned sale of KTRU, and applaud your efforts to save it.  I was a KTRU disc jockey from 1979-1982, and it was a great experience.  While many college radio stations allow some student involvement, KTRU was unusual in that it was completely student run, and open to everyone.

During my first semester at Rice, a fellow student at Hanszen College talked a lot about KTRU, and I remember thinking, “I’ve got to try that!”  This was unusual for me, because I have a fairly quiet personality, and a radio show is a sort of public performance.  The audience isn’t right in your face, though, and I loved the idea of having a musical conversation with them.  Back in those days, the FCC required DJs to have a license (third class radiotelephone operator license with broadcast endorsement), so I checked out a bicycle from the Hanszen bike room and rode it downtown to a government office where I could take the test.  Within a few weeks, I had mastered the basics at the station and I was on the air.  How many 18-year-olds get that opportunity?

Did I mention that it was a lot of fun?  I even ended up playing a regular part in a silly comedy series.   President Leebron’s letter to alumni hinted that KTRU has outlived its usefulness, but I find that hard to believe.  It got me involved in both the Rice community and the greater Houston community in a way that simply wouldn’t have happened otherwise.  And I truly believe that KTRU has been good for the community outside the Rice hedges as well.  It provides a level of diversity that commercial stations will never match.  Its value is primarily cultural, not academic or financial, and is not fully appreciated by President Leebron and the Board of Trustees.

I can’t say I’m surprised.  For decades now, Rice University’s leaders have been chronically insecure about its prestige and reputation.  Rice students don’t have this problem, but the Board of Trustees does.  They desperately want Rice to be always mentioned in the same breath with Harvard and M.I.T., and are willing to pay any price necessary to get there.  Their core strategy has been to add more graduate programs and top research talent so that Rice can make national news more often with announcements of exciting research discoveries.  That’s not inherently bad, but it comes at a price.  It takes a lot of money to fuel that growth.  They’ve been able to raise some of it by increasing tuition and the undergraduate population, but they are always hungry for more.

Of course, Rice isn’t only as good as Harvard or M.I.T., it is in some ways actually better.  There are many reasons, but some of my favorites are Rice’s small size, unique culture, and historical emphasis on the undergraduate experience.  KTRU is a beautiful example of Rice’s culture, but the trustees don’t care about that.  To them, it is simply a $9.5 million asset that isn’t making Rice famous.  Their quest for world recognition has required many sacrifices in what were once Rice’s core values, and you may be sure that more such sacrifices are planned for the years ahead.  If there were a way for them to sell Beer-Bike for $9.5 million, they would do so with no regrets.  Yes, change is inevitable, and Rice needs to keep moving forward, but some traditions really are worth keeping.

Greg Cagle
Hanszen 1982
KTRU 1979-1982