By Hussein Ali Rifath
AU PAWS Web Radio (PAWS), Adelphi’s official student-run radio station, is returning to campus after three years of inactivity. The station, which was first established in 1972, has gone through various periods of inactivity, and last went dormant with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. This year, it is being brought back by the initiative of nine Panthers focused on building an organization that will have a lasting presence in the Adelphi community.
For Errah Fawad, the president of PAWS and a second-year neuroscience major, it has been a long time coming. Fawad learned the importance of radio from a young age while playing with antiques she inherited from her grandfather.
“Although I never met him,” she said, “he introduced me to a beautiful world of electronics that set off a spark venture into the world of radio.”
When Fawad was an incoming freshman, she was excited to learn that Adelphi had its own radio station. But when she arrived for her first day on campus, she was shocked to tune into 90.3 FM (the station’s traditional frequency) only to be greeted with static. PAWS had become defunct in fall 2022 after most of its leadership graduated from their four-year programs.
Upon closer inspection, Fawad came to learn from school officials that PAWS was not even registered as an official student organization. She visited the station’s studio, located in the Earle Hall basement, only to find that it was abandoned and in a state of disarray. As a Student Government Association senator, she decided to take the matter into her own hands.
Fawad assembled a provisional e-board with other like-minded students, such as Maci Bell, a second-year psychology major who is serving as PAWS’ vice president.
“I came to Adelphi under the impression that there were a lot more clubs than there are, and one of the ones that I saw when I was researching clubs was the PAWS Web Radio station. I’ve always been interested in something like this,” said Bell.
After taking the bureaucratic steps necessary to have PAWS reinstated as an official student organization, the group successfully lobbied for the university to renovate its studio with up-to-date equipment. Having taken the necessary steps to stage their comeback, the group has begun producing programming.
“Right now, we're working on starting to record,” said Bell. “We have currently established nine shows. For now, students will be able to tune into pre-recorded programming asynchronously using Spotify. The group plans to begin live radio transmission in the near future.”
Kiara Chan-Arena, a transfer student, is excited to witness the return of radio to Adelphi.
“I went to three different schools before Adelphi,” she said. “All three of them, New York University, Hunter College and Nassau Community College, all had their own radio stations. I do sometimes prefer to listen on my own time, as most people do, but I also think it's really good to tune in live because it has a more life-like aspect to it. It's more enjoyable when you see people who are speaking their thoughts as they come unfiltered without editing, which is what I love about radio.”
Chan-Arena sees potential for innovative programming: “I’d like to see pranks where they [PAWS] go investigating people cheating. I’d like to hear the stories there, 100%, but only if the names [of those involved] aren’t shared. It has to be done ethically,” she said.
Fawad and Bell will be co-hosting a show called “Talk to Me,” where they will be discussing everyday life at Adelphi.
“There will be a lot about student life on campus, which I won't tell you too much about now, but that's for a little synopsis,” said Bell.
The organization’s e-board has ambitious long-term plans.
“In the future, we want our station to be as involved as WRHU [Hofstra University’s radio station], which is the biggest student radio station in the country. We want to have a bigger studio space and we want to have as many people involved. They [WRHU] have a whole building to themselves. That's where we want to get to, theoretically, in the future,” said Bell.
Fawad is committed to making her organization a leader in fostering vibrant campus life.
“Our two main objectives are: one, to spark a cycle of curiosity that rejuvenates each incoming Adelphi class with passion and enthusiasm to last their whole collegiate lives, and two, for the organization to thrive long after my e-board and I have graduated,” she said. “In today’s social and political climate, the existence of a radio station is integral. We hope that the station can become a safe space, where students of all backgrounds can make friends and initiate projects that promote creativity, collaboration and innovation. We at PAWS Radio represent the student body’s voice, and we hope to embody their fiery spirit and unleash it into the frequency of the world.”
Information for shows are available at PAWS’ Instagram page, @adelphipawsradio, and you can learn more about the club on MyAULife.
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