At Philadelphia University, we have a lot of fun-filled friendly clubs. One of those clubs is Philadelphia University’s radio station, WPHU! As an avid radio listener myself, I find it very cool that we have a radio station run by PhilaU students. WPHU is run by a board of student directors, including General Manager/Music Director Devon Mahallati, Public Relations Director Marisa Rivera and Events Director Chyanne Kemp, with the help of Faculty Advisor David Rogers. In fact, I was able to chat with the GM/MD junior Devon Mahallati.
Devon is an Environmental Sustainability major with a minor in Law and Society, and one of the many DJ’s of WPHU. Devon said “I genuinely care about environmental and societal issues, and I eventually want to be a city planner working to make Philadelphia a more sustainable city!” While she’s taking a break from making the world a better place, she’s busy making WPHU a better station. She says that “WPHU focuses on appealing to PhilaU students by playing music from local bands, and talking about shows in the area. It’s for anyone and everyone.”
On why she chose to be a part of WPHU, Devon has says “ [I] always had a passion for music and I thought having a radio show could be a fun way to play music for my friends and by my friends.” WPHU works to provide a creative outlet for students at PhilaU, so it is up to them to decide how they want to run their radio show. As long as it follows the station’s guidelines, she said, “we allow students to play whatever music they want, and it can be music, talk, sports, etc.”
The point of WPHU is to connect with audiences of every single person by means of music and talk radio, and to bring new information to the listeners in innovative ways. One of their popular aims is to teach students to “Let your voice be heard.” However, WPHU doesn’t just play music for college students. “We have had professors do radio shows in the past” Devon commented, “and their target audience was not just college students but other faculty and professionals.” I then asked Devon why she thought WPHU was different from other college radio stations. After some thoughts, she replied “first, because we’re an online radio station so we don’t follow the AM/FM guidelines. Also because we don’t limit our DJ’s to specific genre of music or conversation topic.”
You can listen to WPHU by going to their website, and there you can listen to the station, find what their song of the week is, and what shows are featured. If you’re interested in becoming a DJ for WPHU, you can visit the website and submit an application. You can check out more information and news from WPHU on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Another means of contact is their email – WPHU@philau.edu .