KRTU made its first broadcast on January 23, 1976. Founded as a student-run, noncommercial educational (NCE) radio station, KRTU has served as a student laboratory offering experiential learning for Trinity University students interested in the radio since its inception. Now, KRTU is a professional nonprofit, widely respected media outlet, and one of the last two jazz stations in the state. It maintains one of the largest in-studio collections of jazz recordings in the country.
How do you tell the 50-year history of KRTU in under 2,000 words? You can’t. What follows is a snapshot highlighting several key events by decade. These stories don’t reflect all the excitement, successes, and challenges that were faced during the last 50 years, but hopefully, they will give you a flavor of some of the decisions that got us here. I apologize in advance if I didn’t mention the names and events that were important to you. If you have a KRTU story or pictures, please send them to KRTU at krtu@trinity.org!
In the Beginning (1970s)
According to a May 3, 1974, Trinitonian article, Bill Hays, the chair of the Department of Communication at the time, and Bernard "Bernie" Waterman, co-founder and head of Waterman Broadcasting Corporation, decided that Trinity University could benefit from having its own radio station. However, wanting a radio station and getting a radio station are two very different things.
Nevertheless, thanks to the fundraising efforts of Emilio Nicolas Jr. ’75, then director of the Student Activity Board, Hays’ direction, and a generous gift from the Waterman Broadcasting Corporation, a radio station would be coming to Trinity University.
From Trinitonian, July 3, 1975: Bernard Waterman (left) and President Duncan Wimpress (right)
“Bernard Waterman, president of Waterman Broadcasting, which has donated more than $17,000 for the construction of the station, made the formal announcement Tuesday (July 1) in a joint statement with Trinity President Duncan Wimpress. The Waterman corporation agreed in April 1974 to financially back San Antonio’s newest FM station.”
The proposed 10-watt station was predicted to reach a 5-mile radius from the Sid W. Richardson Communications Center and feature what the first station manager, Don White, called “unusual radio,” a mix of various genres, including drama. White’s slogan for the station was “Fresh Air for San Antonio.”
The plan was for the station to be on the air by September 1974, but this date had to be pushed back after the denial of both the original license request to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for the 88.1 MHz frequency and subsequent requests for 91.5 MHz and 91.2 MHz frequencies. Even with these setbacks, things kept moving forward for the station. In March 1975, William B. Blakemore II of Midland and the J. M. West Texas Corporation of Houston contributed to the construction of a recording studio that included a new 16-track tape machine.
Finally, at 2 p.m. on January 23, 1976, at 91.7 MHz and 50 watts (not the 10 watts that was in the initial proposal), Program Director David King threw the switch. However, the station was only on air for about an hour before Hays shut things down. He was concerned that the station might not be legal because he had received only a copy of the FCC temporary license, not the original telegram. Fortunately, News Director Ron Zimmerman ’73 was by a Western Union store when he heard about the telegram. He was able to retrieve the original telegram and rush it to the station. After that, KRTU filled the airwaves of the local community from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. every day.
In 1979, Ron Calgaard, Ph.D., became the president of the University, and the station moved from eclectic programming to classical music.
From Trinitonian, March 27, 1975: Station Manager Don White
“‘Most of the records you see are mine and the speakers are borrowed,’ White said, pointing into the studio at the wall of shelves that are only about one-quarter filled with albums.”
Are We Still a Student Lab? (1980s)
From the beginning, KRTU was seen as a student lab. Hays and Waterman had collaborated to ensure this new station would create unique educational opportunities for Trinity students. They agreed that Trinity students would first train in commercial radio operations at Waterman's radio stations before stepping into staff positions at KRTU. In the 1980s, two events occurred that would further solidify the station's commitment to a student-first mission. The first was an invitation by a local group to consider turning KRTU into a National Public Radio (NPR) station. Robert Blanchard, Ph.D., who became chair of the Department of Communication in 1982, was against the idea. He felt that if KRTU became an NPR station, students would eventually be shut out. It had happened at other public radio stations, and Blanchard wanted to be sure that KRTU continued to provide experiential, educational learning opportunities for students.
The second event that shaped KRTU in the 1980s was an administration reorganization. The faculty voted positively on Blanchard’s request to put the radio station directly under the Department of Communication to guarantee that the curricular goals of both the department and the station would be met. The department created a number of one-hour, pass-fail practica, making it possible for students of any major to gain hands-on radio experience in announcing, production, and management.
“I’ve been given so many opportunities to learn through KRTU, and I am thrilled to see what new tasks are thrown my way!”
– Elisa Hernandez ’28, Student Intern
Station for Sale … Not! (1990s)
In the 1990s, the station continued under Station Manager Scott Sowards. I became the chair of the Department of Communication and general manager of KRTU in 1998. Toward the end of the decade, KRTU tried broadcasting 24 hours a day using a large CD changer to play music. Unfortunately, the changer had the habit of getting stuck during the night, and we often woke to a noise like a car engine turning over and over.
In May 1999, the department received a call from KLOV, a Christian broadcast station, saying they had an offer to buy the station for $1 million. The new Trinity president, John Brazil, Ph.D., who had started in June 1999, requested the Department of Communication’s recommendation. Initially, we considered keeping the station, but we needed more staff, a new transmitter, and a new control room, and it was unclear how much the University would support us in the future. Additionally, the administration indicated they would give the department half of the sale price for needs above and beyond our salaries and expenses budget. When we weighed the pros and cons, we decided to recommend the sale of the station.
By the end of the summer, it was clear that our listeners, community and student volunteers, and some of the University trustees did not like our recommendation. After some conversations with Charles White, Ph.D., vice president of Academic Affairs, we agreed to change our recommendation. In return, we were able to add one more person to the staff and get funding for a new 8,900-watt transmitter and upgraded control room equipment. The administration said they expected us to become self-sufficient in five years and make Trinity proud of the station. We said, “No problem!”
“At the station, I feel like more than simply an intern; I’m a part of a tight-knit team that works together to promote education, inclusivity, and community.”
– Gabriela Nieraeth ’27, Student Intern
Jazz for San Antonio (2000s)
No problem? Ha! What were we thinking? By Summer 2002, it was clear that we weren’t going to become self-sufficient when our competition was KPAC, a local 24-hour-a-day classical music station. And though we had a loyal listener base, we weren’t attracting much underwriting, and our spring membership drives normally only raised between $3,000 and $5,000. The money coming in wasn’t enough to fund the station. We weren’t sure about our next move, but we knew what we were doing was not sustainable.
During the summer, Gerry Gibbs, a Grammy-nominated drummer, and Operations Manager Ben Donnelly came to the Department of Communication and said we could do the city and ourselves a service if we changed our format to jazz. Of all the public radio music formats, jazz did not normally perform well financially. After consulting with several people and researching jazz radio in the San Antonio market, the department decided to give jazz a chance. The department voted in late summer to move to a jazz format. The question was, “When would we be ready to make the change?”
In October 2002, while I was on leave, the station went down for a day because of technical difficulties. Robert Huesca, Ph.D., faculty station manager and acting department chair, decided this “technical crisis” provided the impetus to change formats. When the station came back on the air the next day, it was a jazz station for 17 hours a day and a rock station for the remaining seven hours.
Our success in those early years was a function of many people. For example, Gaylon Gregor, who worked in the Trinity University Development Department, mentored us about fundraising. Bill Lewis, executive director of the Carver Community Cultural Center, and Kevin Hawkins, director of Laurie Auditorium, were planning a collaboration where the Carver would bring in jazz groups to Laurie. We asked to be part of the collaboration, and they agreed. It was Bill who suggested that we needed to grow jazz in San Antonio. We took his advice to heart and started a “Growing Jazz in San Antonio” initiative mid-decade to try and reach a younger audience. We were helped in this initiative with funding from the Kronkosky Charitable Foundation, Twang Incorporated, the San Antonio Area Foundation, H-E-B, and Councilmen Richard Perez and Chip Haass. Bradley Kaiser, M.D., and Chuck Parrish, J.D., who have been jazz announcers at KRTU since the 1990s, connected the station with their work in Musical Bridges Around the World to bring jazz concerts to San Antonio.
There were also several new or reenergized jazz programs that were created by local jazz community members, including Joan Carrol, Henry Brun, Marcus Haas, Barry Brake, Darren Kuper, Greg Norris, Richard Ybanez, Carl Stewart, and Melanie Cordell.
Station Manager Robert Alverez discovered that Dave Brubeck was touring, and he booked Brubeck in Laurie Auditorium as part of our first jazz fund drive in March 2003. The fund drive brought in approximately $20,000. We were elated. We made the decision to continue bringing in jazz legends (e.g., Herbie Hancock, Pancho Sanchez, John Scofield, and Dianne Reeves) linked to our fund drives.
Paula Sullivan, owner of “Carman de la Calle,” was our first jazz underwriter. Omar Rodriquez painted the images for our first t-shirts and became our first “leadership” donor, followed by Roger Trevino, John Olson, M.D., Ph.D., Jim Blakemore, Fausto Yturria, Bill Lende, and Jack DeWeid.
Aaron Prado, our first jazz chief announcer and music director, gave the station instant credibility due to his family’s long-term San Antonio jazz involvement and his undergraduate college work in jazz radio. Ryan Weber ’04 moved from student station manager to operations manager to station manager in a matter of years. He was responsible for redesigning the control room when the station received money to go HD from an AT&T grant. Chris Helfrich, our first full-time director of Development, made the persuasive argument that our first tag line should stress jazz (“Jazz for San Antonio”) over trying to include Indie Rock (“Jazz All Day, Rock All Night”). Bret Huggins and James Bynum helped with the technical side of the station.
Thanks to Lila Cockrell, former San Antonio mayor who led the San Antonio Parks Foundation from 1981 until her retirement in 2012, the ’00s were the decade we became collaborators with Jazz’SAlive, the premier city jazz festival.
In 2009, the South Texas Jazz Project began. The program, which features local musicians performing and being interviewed, became central to the station’s efforts to give back to the jazz community and San Antonio. JJ Lopez, who at the time was a part-time announcer and volunteer and is now the general manager of KRTU, was hired to produce the show.
Jazz for the World and Indie Rock (2010s)
In 2010, KRTU welcomed Kory Cook as its new music director and chief announcer. During his nearly 15-year tenure, Cook elevated and advanced the station’s jazz credibility, expanding the playlist and establishing a new tone and style on air, while producing several high-profile programs. Around this time, host Jorge Canavati joined KRTU. His special broadcast, Jazz de Mexico, connected us internationally with jazz artists throughout Mexico.
In 2011, I asked the KRTU staff if we should host a concert or two to build awareness about our upcoming 10th anniversary of becoming a jazz station. Associate General Manager Ron Nirenberg ’99, who would go on to become mayor of San Antonio, took the idea and ran with it. He developed a monthly concert series in collaboration with other nonprofits. The “Year of Jazz” was a game changer for the station. Nirenberg’s vision and execution put KRTU on the national jazz map, with the magazine JazzTimes doing a feature on the event.
In Fall 2012, I retired from KRTU. Jennifer Henderson, Ph.D., who was chair of the Department of Communication, took over responsibility for KRTU and put renewed resources into the indie-overnight programming. In 2017, she and General Manager Lopez, along with the dedicated KRTU staff and Trinity stakeholders, helped spearhead the 30,000-watt power upgrade to the station … a far cry from the original 50 watts.
"I am so humbled to be part of a storied legacy that has engaged our community, our students, and other media partners for
five decades.”
– Bria Woods ’16,
KRTU Content Director
The Next Chapter (2020s)
As its 50th anniversary approaches, KRTU has not slowed down. The South Texas Jazz Project began a collaboration with public television’s KLRN and the Carver Community Cultural Center to produce and record televised concerts. The first concert featured trumpeter and educator, Adrian Ruiz, D.M.A., and the second showcased pianist and composer, Aaron Prado, D.M.A. The Ruiz broadcast was nominated for a Lone Star Emmy.
Now, under the direction of Department of Communication Chair Althea Delwiche, Ph.D., and a committed, professional staff of five, KRTU continues to work toward expanding community engagement. Students are now spearheading the production of independent music events such as the indie rock KRTUfest.
“I’ve been able to host jazz and indie shows live on air and gain real-world experience in the music industry.”
– Zoë Collier ’26,
Student Intern
And, KRTU hasn’t forgotten its educational and fine arts mission. There are 43 students participating in internships and/or enrolled in KRTU-focused classes this fall, not to mention its nearly 40 community volunteers on air and nearly 1,000 members. This fall, KRTU staff members taught classes in “Radio Broadcasting,” “Audio Production and Podcasting,” and “Nonprofit Management.”
To kick off the 50-year celebration, the station is collaborating again with KLRN and the Carver Community Cultural Center to hold a free concert featuring Texas jazz star vocalist and Grammy-nominated artist Jazzmeia Horn on January 23, 2026, 50 years to the day of the first KRTU broadcast. The concert is being funded through contributions by Trinity University, H-E-B, Community First Health, and individual donors.
Happy Birthday, KRTU! The best is yet to come.
Collection of Records Across Time
KRTU maintains one of the largest in-studio collections of jazz recordings in the country. From 1976 to 2026, listen to what 50 years of community radio sounds like.
Stay Connected
Learn more about KRTU at krtu.org.
Follow KRTU on social media to stay up to date on its 50th Anniversary programming.
Facebook @KRTUFM
Instagram, X, and YouTube @krtu917fm
Christ wishes to thank Althea Delwiche, Ph.D., JJ Lopez, Bria Woods ’16, Kennice Leisk ’22, and Molly Bruni for reading and editing drafts of this essay. Thanks also go to the Trinitonian for its early news stories about KRTU and University Archivist Abra Schnur for collecting KRTU’s archival images.
photos by Mason McLerran and collected from Trinity’s Special Collections and Archives