Texas A&M Galveston's Rudder Radio is On The Air    

Rudder Radio, the first student-led Internet radio station on the Texas A&M University at Galveston campus, launched May 2017 on KTOR -the Tornado, Ball High School's radio station.  Rudder Radio provides news, music, and entertainment to the Texas A&M Galveston campus and local community.  Students involved in Rudder Radio are part of the Journalism & Communication Learning Community on Texas A&M Galveston campus.

Rudder Radio is the result of a collaborative partnership between students of Texas A&M Galveston campus and Ball High School supported by Nate Stockard the general manager of mybayarearadio.com.  KTOR-the Tornado launched in January and is part of the Ball High School Media Arts Department Media Arts and Digital Technology Community led by Michael Dudas, the media arts coach at Ball High School.

"Our students are especially excited about having their own streaming radio station," said Dr. Katherine Echols, instructional assistant professor in the Department of Liberal Studies and adviser of Rudder Radio and The Nautilus student newspaper.  "The partnership is something to see, especially the level of professionalism of the Ball High School students.  Michael and his K-TOR staff have been generous with their time and equipment.  We look forward to continuing this partnership."

The Rudder Radio staff dedicates hours of personal time during the semester and summer to produce quality programs with widespread appeal.  Texas A&M at Galveston students and seniors Tyler Gillis, Amber Croyl, Nick English, Austin Perez, Nicholas Wellbrock and Avery Obregon have been involved from the beginning.

Until Rudder Radio finds a permanent location on campus, Rudder Radio will makes it temporary home in the Jack K. Williams Library and continue to collaborate with K-TOR and stream on K-TOR, hosted by mybayarearadio.com.

A simple email was all it took to get this project started.  This spring Dr. Echols approached Dudas for advice after reading about K-TOR's launch in January.  "I had heard that some of our students were interested in a campus radio station," said Echols.  "I was excited at the prospect of starting this type of project, so I did some research, and looked for local experts."

She contact Dudas and he responded with an invitation to collaborate with K-TOR before investing time and money in a project that might not succeed.  "There are limited media opportunities for Texas A&M Galveston students who dream of one day operating their own campus radio station," said Dudas.  "Our collaboration enables the college students to receive valuable experience and a platform to showcase their talents.  And, how cool is it that the high school kids are mentoring the college students?  This is definitely something unique and not being done elsewhere."

Echols took him up on his offer and started recruiting students and seeking campus support. Dudas brought in Stockard to provide guidance, proving that community radio is a true partnership.

"It is very exciting to see a collaboration between Ball High School and TAMUG come together through a digital platform and give students an opportunity to grow skills and abilities that can be used in so many areas," said Stockard.

Rudder Radio got its name from General Earl Rudder who led the Army's Rangers at Pointe du Hoc during the D-day invasion and later became the president of Texas A&M University.  During his tenure as president, the college diversified, opening its doors to African-Americans, formally admitting women, created the Texas A&M Maritime Academy in Galveston and the Texas state legislature officially renamed the university Texas A&M University.  The maritime academy at Texas A&M Galveston named their training ship in honor of General Rudder in 2013.

Rudder Radio couldn't have gotten this far without the additional support of the TAMUG family.  "Everyone-administrators, faculty, staff, and students-supported this from the beginning," said Echols. "The Rudder Radio staff and I especially want to thank Dr. Patrick Louchouarn, Dr. JoAnn DiGeorgio-Lutz, Dr. Victor Viser, Dr. David Baca and Amy Caton."

Stream Rudder Radio on the KTOR-the Tornado app or online at https://www.ktorthetornado.com/. Monday through Friday from 11:00 a.m. to noon, Mondays and Wednesdays at 6:00 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday at 7:00 p.m.

Follow Rudder Radio on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Find us @RudderRadio. For more information about Rudder Radio, or to suggest a topic or music for future shows, contact Rudder Radio by email at rudderradio@gmail.com