LA GRANDE — The former student-run radio station at Eastern Oregon University is being revitalized to host a new medium.

The KEOL radio station at the university is currently in the works to become the KEOL podcast studio, which students can utilize to start up and host their own podcasts. After the radio station was disbanded in 2021, the space will now serve as a hub for creative talk shows for students, faculty and staff across campus.

“Students can graduate with some experience putting together podcasts and getting those published,” said Tim Seydel, Eastern’s vice president for university advancement. “It will be fun to see what gets generated out of there and what gets picked up. It will be exciting to see how the students utilize the space.”

The radio station, 91.7 KEOL, housed in the Hoke Union building, was voted away by the student fee committee, due to costs associated with FM licensing and the impact of lessened interest. With the utilization of a modern and affordable format, the podcast studio will not require student fees.

“We wanted to make sure we still had something exciting in that space for the students,” said Lacy Karpilo, vice president of student affairs. “It still allows for the spirit of what the radio station was, but utilizes the technology and expertise we have without the same funding issues as with the radio station.”

The space will likely be used by the communication department, where students can gain real-world experience.

“What we wanted was something that could be tied to academics, while also giving the freedom to students and clubs for something they can access,” she said. “It was a very wonderful proposal to be able to support the co-curricular activities that we want our students to be able to engage with.”

Jesse Cimon, the website administrator at Eastern and co-owner of HQ on Depot Street, is spearheading the efforts to convert the radio station space into a fully functioning podcast studio. According to Cimon, the studio will be ready to use by the fall term at the latest — the pending ship date for the audio interface could have the space ready for recording by this summer.

“We’re most of the way there, but have some stuff that is back ordered,” he said. “We’re hoping that comes in the next month or so and then expect to get it up and running.”

Along with Cimon, equipment system specialist Davon Dunajski is assisting in renovating the podcast studio. Dunajski has a background in live recording, modern equipment and the tools necessary in streamlining the project. Cimon and Dunajski have worked together in developing the procedures that will be utilized once the podcast studio is up and running.

Cimon noted that the priority is to have a studio for students interested in broadcast media production to use. He stated that the hope is making resources available will grow interest in podcasting among students, clubs, faculty and staff at the university.

Students will be able to record their podcasts and leave the space with their recording on file. Those involved with the transition from radio station to podcast studio are hoping to establish a cost-efficient venue that will allow students and faculty to have a voice in the community and sharpen their media production skills.

“The main overhead with the radio station was FCC licensing,” Cimon said. “There are obviously depreciating assets involved with the podcast studio, but because we’re not broadcasting the podcasts over FM airwaves, it’s quite a bit more affordable to produce content.”