By Kace Kieschnick

A set of brown double doors stand out among the uniform halls of Howard Auditorium. Covered in old flyers and posters, they open to reveal a space no larger than a dorm room, most of which is taken up by two couches, a large chair and a desk facing the visitor. The walls are buried under flyers for past events, band posters and anti-online music streaming propaganda. The scene is blanketed in dim red and green lighting competing from opposite corners of the room, and ’80s alternative rock greets its guests. This is the home of KLPI.

Founded in 1967, KLPI-FM is Louisiana Tech’s student-run campus radio station and one of the university’s oldest clubs. Broadcasting on 89.1 FM, the station currently resides in Howard Auditorium, Room 306, and its only studio sits across the hall in an old music practice room that hardly fits three people.

In August of 2022, KLPI’s home of 40 years in a small building between Howard Auditorium and the Student Center was torn down. The refugee radio station was taken in by the School of Music, but the impacts of its uprooting are felt to this day. KLPI Librarian Noah Jose said the station has been left to rebuild what was lost in the wreckage.

“That’s been a monumental task. I feel like I talk about it like, oh yeah, we had a building come down, but we relocated it’s fine. I mean, we lost a lot of stuff while the building came down like a lot of just physical history, a lot of music that we lost, a lot of respect if anything,” said Jose.

The first step in reclaiming the voice of Louisiana Tech was making sure it was audible. General Manager Chris Colello arrived at KLPI just after the move.

“This whole place was held together with duct tape and bubblegum,” said Colello. “The overall theme of me being here is improvement and making sure we don’t fall apart again.”

Colello invested years of unused station funds, around $130,000, to purchase and install a new transmitter and replace the 1968 antenna atop Wyly Tower, which will boost KLPI’s signal strength from 20 watts to 4,000 watts. This new range will encompass all of Ruston and brings KLPI to licensed wattage for the first time in over 30 years.

“As a radio station we’re improving there. I mean, the transmitter, the antenna, a few years ago that was thought of as impossible — it will never happen. Well, I made it happen, and then, we’re growing as a club as well because that’s where our money comes from: the students. Yeah, we can be the best radio station in Ruston, but if students don’t like KLPI, well there goes our funding,” said Colello.

KLPI currently has over 30 active members. Like many student organizations, the station receives funding based on the number of students enrolled. Executive staff said the club has continued to grow following their relocation, but they haven’t lost the tight bond that makes KLPI special.

“We’re a little weird. I’m not gonna lie. We’re not for everybody, but we’ll have you. We accept everybody…If you want it, come here we’ll do it. We’ll train you. We can have some fun,” said Colello. “Radio’s kind of a niche market, and anything that we can do to make it a little bit more accessible, yeah let’s do it.”

In addition to a diverse group of members, Jose said the station features a variety of jobs to satisfy any interest. Positions include music, programming, production and public relations, not just on-air broadcasting.

“We go live and play music for the town of Ruston and talk to the town of Ruston via the radio station which appeals to a lot of the more extroverted students,” said Jose.  “We have just a lot of stuff to do like managerial whatnots, and I feel like that attracts a lot of the more introverted students, just feeling a part of a decent cause.”

That cause, Jose said, is music. KLPI highlights new and local artists. Over its nearly 60 years of operation, KLPI has featured a variety of shows and genres and settled on an alternative rock format in the 90s. Despite its classification, listeners can find a lot more than just its signature genre on 89.1 FM. Senior members are given their own radio shows and allowed to pick their own programming.

“We’re not always playing alternative rock 24/7. That’d be boring. We have our own DJs. They come in here. I had one guy do a rave show, for the longest time we had a rap show,” said Colello. “You can play whatever you want…If you wanna play rap, play some rap, country, go nuts.”

KLPI’s assorted programming helps it appeal to its primary audience: Louisiana Tech students. In helping expand the club and recuperate the station’s image, KLPI has prioritized student outreach. This effort has been led by Public Relations Director Tucker Phillips.

“I want us to be played kind of just around campus regularly. Like, they play us sometimes in the bookstore. They’ll turn us on on the radio. It’s nice to like go in and hear our shows being played,” said Phillips. “I want that interaction. I really want us to thrive and to get the attention of the student body. I think it’s important to do that.”

Headlining the outreach effort will be Mayfest, KLPI’s annual concert festival ended during the pandemic that staff hopes to bring back this spring. Despite a tumultuous few years for the station, members are optimistic about KLPI’s future.

“I see the station doing pretty well within the coming years. I think that we’re definitely going to revitalize our name,” said Jose. “There’s just a lot of goodwill repair going on, but I think within the coming years that KLPI is gonna be known as one of the primary Tech organizations alongside Student Government and things like that through the rebuilding effort that we put a lot into.”

As for the media outlet, Colello said college radio isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

“We’re all student run. I mean, I could say play fart noises on the radio, and they’ll play fart noises on the radio. If you appeal to your audience, being goofy, being kind of silly while also respecting the rules of the FCC, I think we’ll be okay,” said Colello.