An Important Message for All Rice Alumni

August 18, 2010

Fellow Rice Alumni,

Rice Owl BlueEarlier this week, our university’s trustees voted to sell the radio tower and frequency of KTRU 91.7fm, Rice’s student-run radio station, removing its ability to broadcast a radio signal to the Houston community. Shortly thereafter, the University of Houston Board of Regents voted to buy the station, reportedly for $9.5 million.

Rice’s actions undermine both President David Leebron’s stated goal of empowering Rice students and the students’ trust in their university. Rice has seized an important resource from its students and moved to liquidate it without their knowledge. Now is the time for all alumni to step up and defend KTRU in the name of Rice students and alumni everywhere. We have three requests of our fellow alumni:

1. First, please send your names, graduation years, and undergraduate colleges (or graduate departments) to KTRUalumni@gmail.com (open to ALL alumni, not just those who worked at KTRU) for the notice we will be posting to several major print news outlets. This notice has yet to be drafted, but it will be circulated soon and don’t worry, you’ll have a chance to offer input and to decline to be included in the final draft should you disagree with something in it.   We believe that the voices of alumni have great power, as our donations represent a significant portion of Rice’s income.

2. Second, please submit to the same email address or to the savektru.org content page your stories and memories of the ways KTRU has mattered in your life, either in text or mp3 audio format. We need to make Rice’s administration and the Houston public aware of the vital role KTRU has played in the education of Rice students and the Houston community over the four decades of its existence.  It may not be too late to teach Rice’s leaders to recognize the mistake they are making at the expense of the quality and breadth of the education their institution provides.  We would also like to challenge the methods of an administration that brokers a multi-million dollar sale of university assets without the knowledge or understanding of the university community. If you send us your memories in audio, please email them as mp3, keep them to less than 40 seconds, and give us written confirmation in your email that we can broadcast these audio clips on KTRU.

3. The third request is that you stop giving to Rice, or give less money. Then, notify Rice that you are doing this, and divert some of those funds toward efforts to save KTRU. Consider contacting giving.rice.edu or calling the Office of Resource Development at 713-348-4600 to inform them that you will not be donating to Rice until KTRU is reinstated and its future guaranteed.  We have no doubt that many of us are out there, and we need to act quickly to make Rice aware that their signature on any bill of sale of KTRU comes with a heavy price. We would also like to propose the creation of a “Friends of KTRU” booster organization to provide not only the resources but also the institutional memory necessary to prevent this fight from being waged again in another 10 years. Expect to hear more about this effort in the very near future.

Thank you in advance for your help in keeping Rice student organizations safe for the students who built them and ensuring that Rice students are involved in the decision-making processes that affect them. Thank you for helping us to save KTRU.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Bourland, Lovett ’01
David B. Collins, Lovett ‘84 (KTRU News Director ’81-’82 & Program Director ‘83)
Nick Cooper, Wiess ’91
Mark Flaum, CHBE ‘07
Rodney Gibbs, Brown ‘92 (KTRU Station Manager ‘90 -‘92)
Julie Grob, Jones ‘88 (KTRU Music Director ‘87-’88, Promotions Director ‘85-’87)
Adam Guerra, Jones ’08 (KTRU Music Director ’07-’08)
Audrey Nath, Will Rice ’05 (KTRU Station Manager ’03-’04)
Heather Nodler, Sid Richardson ‘01 (KTRU Station Manager ‘97-’99)
Rick Sawyer (Baker ’00, Outdoor Show Co-Director ’97-’98; Music Director ’97-’99; Small Concerts Director ’99-’00; Scordatura Director ’99-’00)
Margaret Smith, Wiess ‘00 / Evolutionary Biology ‘04 (KTRU Station Manager ‘99-’00)

Email us:  KTRUalumni@gmail.com

Join our Facebook group:

Facebook IconRice Alums Pledging Not to Donate if KTRU is Sold

26 comments

  1. Twitted by evan7257

    […] This post was Twitted by evan7257 […]

  2. Alum

    Just to clarify that this is for all Rice alumni, even though the email address might imply KTRU alumni. Might want to make it extra- explicit in point 1.

    Also, realize that for some the focus might be on student involvement in the decision making process rather than on keeping the transmitter.

  3. heathernodler

    Thanks for pointing that out, Ben. I’ve made some changes. Let me know what you think.

  4. Save KTRU » Rice Alums!

    […] to do something to prevent the sale of KTRU? We have lots of suggestions. Check out our letter to Rice alumni. This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 18th, 2010 at 11:35 pm and is filed under News. […]

  5. Mariel

    A few letters to the editor at the Houston Chronicle wouldn’t hurt, either. Houston residents would probably have a better shot at getting published, though.

  6. Gunter

    Come on! Everybody is making a big deal out of this.

    In my 6 years of grad school at Rice, I forced myself to listen to KTRU several times, trying to like it. To put it mildly, its programming is mediocre, at best. There’s no need to flood Houston’s airwaves with students experimenting with broadcasting.

    I have yet to find a student at Rice that hears KTRU on FM. KTRU can continue working through online brodcasting/podcasting. Today’s technologies allow students to do the same thing over the internet and even reach larger audiences.

    I think UoH does a great job with KUHF. I hope they get this new frequency and split their programming into full news and classical music as two different stations as they intend to do.

    It is an expensive resource and students have not made good use of it, in my opinion. Sell it to UoH before FM becomes obsolete and worthless.

  7. Alum

    I think we can also help amplify the response by each emailing this to our good friends from Rice who were not as involved in KTRU but would still want to take five minutes to make their voice heard.

  8. Jones alum

    I was a student at Rice in the late 60s and early 70s when KTRU was launched. It has provided eclectic and unusual music from its beginning and has become a university treasure and important university institution. My daughter applied to Rice for the expressed purpose of working at KTRU. My parents, my husband, and I would set our alarm clocks to hear her DJ in the middle of the night. She developed unique leadership skills through her KTRU experience. My car and office radios are set on 91.7. The current administration’s disregard for such a unique gem which is an integral part of Rice’s history deeply saddens me. I won’t be making any more donations to the university that provided generations of my family wonderful educations, rich experiences, and memories.
    B.A.’69; M.A.’71.

  9. AlmostDallas

    @Gunter: Well said. I was thinking the same thing. In addition to “experimenting with broadcasting”, I’ve noticed many DJ’s seem barely interested, speaking in monotones and unable to pronounce half of what they play. Why bother, Daria?

    What frightens me is the response from alumni saying they will stop donating to Rice over this. There are plenty of worthy causes at Rice that still need funding. What about the 98% of students who don’t work for KTRU? Trying to hit them where it counts – in their wallets – does a huge disservice to so many other good things happening down there.

    We need to look beyond our own nostalgic petulance and continue supporting a top-notch institution.

  10. Eric

    @Gunter and @AlmostDallas, while I can sympathize with your distaste for KTRU programming, what you’re missing is KTRU as an organizational landmark for independent music. KTRU represents college music in Houston and does so very admirably. While you may not listen to KTRU all the time, many people rely on it as a source for finding new music.

    When I first became exposed to punk and noise music KTRU was where I turned to discover new artists. I’m sure some may argue that discovery of new music has been relegated to the web, the fact is the web has quickly become another stream of copy-cat blogs that simply repeat the mediaspeak provided them by the publicity system in the music industry. KTRU, on the other hand, is able to stand alone and provide an audience for new, experimental and subversive music. Even if you don’t like the music, the ideals KTRU represents is important and relevant.

  11. AlmostDallas

    @Eric, you’re right, KTRU is certainly one of a kind. And the DJ on right now (Friday, 2pm) is quite good! Sadly, it sounds like the Admin has already spent the money.

    I personally will continue to support Rice University, and I hope that my fellow alums will do the same, regardless of the outcome of this.

  12. SPACE CITY ROCK » Save KTRU: Sunday’s Protest at Willy’s Statue + What Else You Can Do

    […] alumni, there’s a whole section over there just for you. Add your name to the letter that’ll be going out, submit stories about KTRU, […]

  13. KTRU rally – Off the Kuff

    […] this action by the Rice administration leaves its mark. Show up for the protest, threaten to never donate another dime, pursue the potential Open Meetings Act violation, write impassioned open letters, I wish you luck. […]

  14. Evelyn

    @AlmostDallas

    “What about the 98% of students who don’t work for KTRU?”

    Actually, that’s a huge inflation of the numbers. KTRU is Rice University’s LARGEST student organization.

  15. Sarah

    The value of KTRU is not merely in its music, as it would be at a commercial station. It gives a greater thing to Rice students: experience in leadership. The skills learned in running a radio station with a huge transmitter and the responsibility of FCC filings translate directly into skills needed in running a company, running a university, running a nonprofit, or running a country. Experiences in public speaking to a large FM audience are directly applicable when addressing a union, a faculty, a staff, or voters. Learning how to not be a fawning idiot around rock stars backstage at a concert is good training for learning how to not be a fawning idiot around nobel prize winners and CEOs. My leadership experiences at KTRU made me, and others, ultimately successful in our careers. A sale of KTRU would rob future students of similar opportunities. A few internships at somebody else’s radio station is not the same and could never change the lives of so many students as KTRU has.

  16. Marcel Levi

    I was a DJ from ’90 – ’94. I would also drive up from Clear Lake once a week during summers to do a summer shift. KTRU was central in forming leadership skills and furthering my already strong music appreciation.

    I am now the Rice Corporate Agent for Chevron, where I have worked for the past 16 yrs. I oversee and encourage all donations from over 200 Rice alums at Chevron, in addition to several hundred more Rice alumni retirees. I feel it would be a little inappropriate to discourage them from giving due to the Board’s insolence. But I am planning to write a letter to Chevron Rice alums on Monday, outlining the situation and ask them to consider this in deciding how much to give this fall to Rice.

  17. Chris Knutson

    An important point Gunter and Dallas are missing is that the Rice Administration and Board of Trustees did this in such a deplorably underhanded and un-democratic way, essentially stealing it from the students who built it over 40+ years. Theft is theft, institutional or otherwise. “Board of Trustees” suggests a level of trust. I would argue that said trust has been violated.

  18. Paolo Sant'Ambrogio

    Throbbing Gristle
    The Judys
    The Suburban Lawns
    The Del Bizantines

    KTRU I will miss you.

    Paolo Sant’Ambrogio
    ’84 ’86 B. Arch

  19. GD

    2 things:

    1. How is the Rice Board of Trustees elected/selected? The governing documents/processes don’t seem to be available online. If Alumni have a vote, perhaps some of the trustees need to be replaced. If not, Alumni should be made aware that they do not have a voice in the governance of Rice (some will be less willing to give).

    2. Any overlap between the Rice Board and UH Board or Houston NPR Board (or obvious family/social connections)? This feels like a sweetheart deal being made for the benefit of UH or NPR (at the expense of Rice). The Trustees may be selling out Rice to do a favor for their friends in the Houston elite.

  20. curlydan

    GD: Good point on #2. Other boards to link into might be Houston Symphony, Ballet, etc. that hook directly to classical music. I tried to search for any Leebron/Symphony connections (inquiring minds want to know), but could not find any immediate ones.

  21. eyrieowl

    @GD — I less suspicious that it’s explicit back-scratching, more cultural bias. I’d imagine that the folk on the Board were probably given a sample of (or had previously heard) some of the less-accessible music KTRU plays, and were nonplussed…and they’re very likely people who would personally enjoy hearing more NPR or classical or both. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if those sorts of personal preferences played a role in the actions that were taken.

  22. alum

    I was not involved with KTRU as a student. However, I vehemently oppose the way in which the “deal” was made between Rice and UH without open discussion and behind closed doors. That is not the Rice way.
    I signed the electronic petition and emailed the UH president and the FCC to stop this sale.

  23. Eileen

    As an Alum of Rice and KTRU, now grad student, I am totally willing to do whatever it takes to shame the administration into doing the right thing (they’re so corporate-minded now, it’s scary… shame and public scorn seem to be the only tools that will work, when reason and decency are thrown out).

    I have done all that you asked, but my big question is – why are we not targeting the FCC? Are we going for the university to reverse course and contact the FCC themselves? This seems unlikely, I have to admit.

  24. Gene Hinyard

    I’m still concerned that your folks are missing the big point here. The point is that your administration cashed out 40 years of student sweat equity, on an asset that was presumptively held in trust, in an underhanded and secretive manner. This is not in keeping with the way things have historically been handled at Rice as previously all interested \stakeholders\ have been involved in major decisions. This particular asset is one of a very few that gave exposure to Rice beyond the hedges to the community in which it is a part.

    President Leebron has certainly demonstrated his contempt for the Rice community at large through the secretive and underhanded manner in which this was handled. Since it is apparent that President Leebron is unable to measure up to the dignified and gentlemanly manner in which all for the former Rice Presidents that I have known were, I am of the opinion that he can no longer be trusted to serve in that capacity.

    This issue is much larger than just the sale of the asset – it is a reflection of the future direction and manner of conducting business that Rice is willing to engage in. Rice has been one of the last bastions of truth, honesty, integrity, and transparency for almost 100 years. This issue certainly clouds that reputation and calls into question Rice’s future as such a place.

  25. George Sun

    Hello KTRU alumni and fans:
    This is George Sun, class of ’88 in New York City. Julie, Alice, how are you???!!
    I’m sorry to get on this bandwagon so late. I’ve been drafting a letter to Leebron, but get so pissed off that I have to stop.
    I am now sending an email to the Rice Annual Fund, copying the Alumni email. This is not nice of Leebron. And let’s just say that living in the neighborhood where he’s from, I’m not all that surprised.

    I’m still tight here with the S&M djs, James (formerly Scott) and Marilyn. See them all the time. They’re in with us too. And I’m spreading the word around here in NYC.

    Gene, very well put: “it is a reflection of the future direction and manner of conducting business that Rice is willing to engage in. Rice has been one of the last bastions of truth, honesty, integrity, and transparency for almost 100 years. This issue certainly clouds that reputation and calls into question Rice’s future as such a place.”

    I do hope we still have a chance to reverse this decision. I just watched the video. Great job. You all have done a wonderful job in getting the facts. This is all good stuff as far as the courts are concerned. And the NY Times! Excellent.

    All my best,

    George Sun ’88. “Difficult listening music hour” with Diamanda Galas. Right after the S&M show.

  26. George Sun

    Oh, I also want to point out a few things that Leebron had put in his “letter” to us. That is that the audience no. was so low. Well, when KTRU started, it was not intended to transmit beyond the hedges. It was NEVER meant to be a large audience listenership. If it was, would we have played the music that we did? But thank God we did, because if we didn’t, who would have?
    So Leebron’s point of shutting down the station because too few people were listening to it makes no sense. KTRU was never put into place for a large listenership.

    And to raise the money for an eatery?? Right, because there isn’t enough food going around Houston and the Rice campus. Frankly, when I’m down there, it’s culture I’m starving for. Not food.

Your comment