With all of the campus COVID-19 restrictions, student organizations are having to adapt. For example, the university’s radio station 88.7 WNHU is finding ways to still stream live and be active on campus. However, the need for social distancing has caused some changes to their studio.

Since the Ruden Street studio has all hands-on equipment that students share, and all of the microphones are less than six feet apart, only one student in the studio is allowed at a time this semester. Students must also sanitize their equipment and show their “cleared” CoVerified badge upon entering.

WNHU general manager Bruce Barber said that even with the changes, students are remaining flexible and positive.

“We are extremely lucky that WNHU is equipped with Zetta, a professional radio station automation system,” Barber said. “All the music in Zetta is curated by our students, and we’ve been able to keep the station running remotely throughout the pandemic.”

Even now, with the campus reopened, there are still opportunities for students who are off of campus to be involved with WNHU, he said.

Station manager, and senior PJ Tucker said, “[If] you want to get better at audio production or want to stay off-campus due to pandemic concerns, we can help students record and edit their own radio shows from home, which we can put into the automation weekly or multiple times.”

WNHU has live shows where students are in the studio and handling the music or hosting podcasts. Even when students aren’t in the studio, there is a live 24-hour playlist.

Barber said, “Our programming philosophy is that WNHU should feature ‘music FOR college students — chosen BY college students’, and we have an incredible music committee that meets regularly to add songs to the rotation.”

Barber said that adapting to COVID-19 restrictions has made some positive changes for WNHU. He said there has been an improvement in communication among the team. Now that the members cannot hold in-person meetings, they meet via Zoom and stay connected via Microsoft Teams.

Another way that WNHU is remaining active is by offering multiple radio shows throughout October. These shows are for a certain time block on varying days, where there are guest hosts or a theme for the music selection. These shows range from a sports report, gospel music, jazz, Italian music, and more. There are also nights where the station is hosted by University of New Haven alumni.

“We are planning new programming initiatives surrounding social justice and the effects of the pandemic, and have seen a dramatic increase in student interest surrounding podcast production,” said Barber.

Eventually, students at WNHU want to host in-person events on campus.

“The best part about music is if you turn it up enough, you don’t need to stand close at all!” said Tucker. “WNHU is still interested in setting up during these nice fall days to play music for our students, and keep the university positive in a time where we can all use some positive vibes.”