KTUH, the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s student-run radio station, is taking listeners “Back to the Beginning” during its annual radiothon campaign, a weeklong fundraiser that celebrates more than 55 years of student-led broadcasting and a mission driven by community connection.
This year’s campaign officially runs November 2–8, with a pre-drive period from October 12 to November 1 to build excitement and early support. All donations raised during both the pre-drive and radiothon will go directly to student media scholarships.
“KTUH is an opportunity for all students to have a creative outlet and creative freedom,” said Jason Hee, KTUH marketing and development director. “We want to keep providing for the community and expanding our mission, and we hope others will join in that too.”
The first $10,000 in donations will go directly to the KTUH Scholarship fund, which will benefit KTUH student members. All donations after will go toward the Miho Family Scholarship, which can be awarded to anyone within UH Mānoa student media, which includes Ka Leo, UH Productions, Mānoa Now, the Hawaiʻi Review and the Student Media Board.
Visit the UH Foundation website to make a donation.
“Back to the Beginning”
This year’s theme highlights KTUH‘s origins in 1969, when three UH Mānoa engineering students discovered an abandoned FM studio in Hawaiʻi Hall and decided to bring it back to life. Using old equipment and their own ingenuity, the trio began broadcasting to campus dorms through the building’s electrical system before finally securing an FM license. On July 7, 1969, KTUH officially went on the air.
KTUH leadership wanted this year’s theme to take listeners back to the station’s roots, while also looking ahead at the opportunities of the future, made possible by fundraisers like the Radiothons.
“We want to reflect on where KTUH came from and use it to look forward to the future,” Hee said. “As we move forward, we rely a lot on our community through things like the annual Radiothons to help our station operate.”
Hee also emphasized that donations aren’t just an investment in the radio station itself, it’s an investment in the students who are central to the station’s operation and across all UH Mānoa student media organizations.
“All of this year’s donations will go directly toward student scholarships,” he said. “We hope that through this fundraiser, we will be able to give more opportunities to our students at KTUH and in the UH Mānoa student media organizations.”
— By Grant Nakasone
