This story was originally published in The DC’s Spring 2024 Issue.
Capri Woss sits at her computer in a booth in Fondren library, pops her headphones in and loads the software needed for her upcoming radio broadcast. She connects the Spotify playlist she made and selects a photo for the background. Woss broadcasts live amid an audio backdrop of lively conversation and the sounds of drinks being made at the Starbucks in SMU’s Fondren Library. After two songs play, Woss greets her audience and asks if they have any song requests before she plays her next curated song.
Radio debuted on SMU’s campus in 1947, under the name KSMU, but in 2011 the station, then known as KPNI, shut down due to a lack of funding. However, last spring, Woss, then a junior at SMU, had a plan to bring radio back. The path to getting radio re-established was not easy. After months of pushback and confusion she finally found a source of contact, a faculty member who could help her start her own organization. In order to present before the SMU Senate, Woss needed to find a faculty advisor, officers and at least 10 members. Without a lot of experience in a leadership position, Woss took to Instagram to find her first members.
“I contacted someone from Instagram that I had never met in real life only because they would post songs that I liked on their story,” Woss said. “I was like, ‘You know what? I bet this person that’s so confident about sharing their music tastes would enjoy getting the college radio reinstated.’”
Once Woss assembled her team of four officers, they took to Instagram again and promoted SMU Radio Frequency (S.M.U.R.F.) applications for potential new members to join.
S.M.U.R.F. Vice President, SMU senior and fellow music lover Zach Perez, eagerly wanted to help Woss establish the program when he first heard about it last year.
“Music has always been the way I have expressed myself and showed how I’m feeling,” Perez said. “When I found out a group of students were planning to start a radio club, I jumped at the opportunity to be a part of building it up.”
Perez is currently pursuing degrees in film and media studies as well as corporate communication and public affairs in addition to being a member of S.M.U.R.F.
Woss’s interest for music started at a young age and developed into an all-consuming love. In high school, Woss and her friends participated in their school radio program. There, she found her love for sharing the music she loves with others. When she graduated and began attending SMU, she found herself yearning for a similar experience.
“I didn’t know if it would bother me not to have a radio [station] here until I started seeing all of my friends from home, doing college radio at their school,” Woss said. “I was like we need to get this.”
While she has always had a passion for music, Woss currently majors in biology and studio art and minors in chemistry and art history.
Sharing music with others connects Woss with students at SMU with similar interests. SMU junior and biology major Robin Kinagomba joined the program for that exact reason.
“I wanted to join S.M.U.R.F because I love music and I believed that having a community at SMU made for music would be good for bringing more students together,” Kinagomba said.
Creative communications officer Jordan Naivar joined for a similar reason.
“I think finding your crowd can be a real challenge coming into college, music is a way to find those you share interests with,” Naivar said. “Expressing yourself through music is one of the best ways to connect with anyone.”
S.M.U.R.F. also connects Naivar to her long distance friends and relatives when they tune into her broadcast. While majoring in creative computing and minoring in graphic design and advertising, she finds time each week to make new playlists and expand her music taste.
Woss and her officers have big plans for the future of S.M.U.R.F.
“I think [we want a] Battle of the Bands, we would try to get local Denton, SMU and Dallas bands to come and then set that up here and broadcast it,” Woss said. “That’s the goal.”
