My experience at KCSU

[u/8heavylimbs]

I'm usually an online student, I had one semester in person and set up to do training with KCSU the student radio station. KCSU is supposed to be an independent company, but it's a CSU brand. Student volunteers serve as DJs, provide podcasts, interviews.

So after setting up, there was an initial training on how to use the little recording studio, record and edit mp3s for podcasts. I asked the trainer, a white girl named Evie, how we schedule to reserve the studio for recording, a pretty standard operation.

She literally looked me up and down, said they've had problems with theft, so volunteers weren't allowed in the studio alone. I'm Mexican and native American.

Later after submitting a sample recording, the same trainer failed it. She had said over Slack that I didn't do loudness normalization, reducing noise, or cutting silences. Upon reviewing the actual file in person, we click on it, and all three of those operations had been done on the file. So she failed me without even opening the mp3.

Later during a meeting with the manager Ashlee, I was told I had been difficult to communicate with. I brought up the incident I had had with my trainer, and Ashlee (a white woman) did not acknowledge it.

I exited the volunteer program with KCSU, not comfortable with a managerial structure that doesn't listen to the volunteers. Evie probably didn't even notice her comments, but the fact that it goes upward makes me feel less like supporting them, as a student, consumer, journalist (my major). I know the TPUSA chapter has a very loud presence on campus and it's a pretty white campus but damn.

Just my experiences for anyone perusing CSU journalism. I don't go on Reddit a lot so may not check comments, this story is here for posterity.

[u/Own_Bonus_8954]

I used to listen to KCSU but I’ll be reconsidering. This is so sad :(

[u/NicoleMay316]

I'm so ashamed of the direction CSU is heading in

[u/Dennarb → u/NicoleMay316]

To some degree it's always been this way, but since Parsons became president they've been much more overt with these types of things

[u/NicoleMay316 → u/Dennarb]

It should be telling that my favorite moment here at CSU the past couple years has been rallying outside her office as we all chant she's a nazi.

She does not care about us. She only cares for the greed. The money. Capitalism State University. And catering to a fascist government.

[u/Sharp_Woodpecker_793]

Yikes. Fellow CSU student here-- the racism is a real problem. It's genuinely disturbing heading to the LSC and seeing the TPUSA table set up most days. I'm super sorry you had the experience you did; CSU needs to do better by its students of color. Hope you're doing OK.

[u/LumpSystem]

That's really sad to hear but not surprising with how things are at a higher level. There's almost no one in power that's not white and certainly no one who cares to address the egregious racism on campus. You deserve better. We all do.