CONWAY, Ark. (September 25, 2018) – In 1973, there likely were
plenty of 45s stacked around the KHDX office in Hulen Hall, keeping music
within easy reach for those early DJs at Hendrix College’s radio station. The
DJs may not rely on vinyl much anymore at their current space in the Student
Life and Technology Center (SLTC), but KHDX 93.1 FM, also known as the “10-Watt
Tower of Power,” will be celebrating 45 years of broadcasts throughout this
academic year, beginning with World College Radio Day on Friday, October 5.
“Other campuses in Arkansas have had multiple stations over the
years, but KHDX has kept the same license at the same broadcast level longer
than any of them,” said station manager Jacob Turner ’19. “We’re also one of
the country’s last remaining FCC Class D stations, which is a special FM
designation for radio stations owned by colleges and universities.”
KHDX is one of the largest campus stations in Arkansas. Fully
funded by the Hendrix Student Senate, it boasts a seven-person, all-student
staff, about 50 shows per year on the schedule, and an average of 75 DJs, with
students, faculty, and staff among that total. In addition to reaching much of
Conway over the airwaves, it also broadcasts online at khdx.fm.
Though the station’s existence does date back 50 years to 1968,
broadcasting began in 1973, “so we’re going with ‘45’ as our celebratory
number,” Turner said. “It’s an appropriate theme.”
For October 5, Turner has begun coordinating a 24-hour World College
Radio Day marathon of broadcasting from the Burrow (as the lobby of the SLTC is
known). KHDX will air live for all 24 hours to highlight student shows and music
selections, and to host a series of local celebrities and guest DJs alongside
the station manager, who will staff the booth for the entire day.
The 45th anniversary celebration will continue into
next semester with projects such as “Hear Hendrix,” an album release of
acoustic music produced by members of the Hendrix community; compiling a full
history of the station to post on khdx.fm; the Hat Trick Music Festival, which since
2014 has brought up-and-coming musical acts to Conway; and a gathering of past
DJs and staff on Alumni Weekend, April 5-7, 2019.
“KHDX has always been a place where students, and even staff and
faculty, can express their individuality,” said Dr. Maureen McClung ’01,
faculty advisor to the station and a DJ during her years as a Hendrix student.
“It’s great to step back and observe the collective diversity in programming we
have always generated. From metal to country to indie to avant-garde, we have
done it all. I remember as a freshman playing songs from Sesame Street’s Cookie
Monster alongside Bjork and Curtis Mayfield. Where else on the radio do you
hear something like that?”
While KHDX plays a lot of music, it also serves as a creative
outlet for “spoken word and other auditory creations,” Turner said. It reaches
beyond its own broadcast concerns, too: Last year, it became a charter member
of the Arkansas College Radio Association (ArkCRA), a support and resource
network of collegiate radio stations in Arkansas.
About Hendrix College
A private liberal arts college in Conway, Arkansas, Hendrix
College consistently earns recognition as one of the country’s leading liberal
arts institutions, and is featured in Colleges That Change Lives: 40
Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About Colleges. Its academic
quality and rigor, innovation, and value have established Hendrix as a fixture
in numerous college guides, lists, and rankings. Founded in 1876, Hendrix has
been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. To learn more,
visit www.hendrix.edu.