Hampton Radio Station Ranked Among Top 20

By Briana Flowers
Black College Wire

Hampton University�s radio station, WHOV-FM, ranked number 12 on Princeton Review�s �Great College Radio Stations� in its latest publication, �The Best 345 Colleges.�

Station manager Robert Dixon credited high student commitment and faithful community listeners for the rating. �Our staff is great,� Dixon said. �Only three members get paid; so everyone else volunteers their time. Our nonstudent listeners also help make us the best.�

Ninety-five percent of WHOV staff members are Hampton students.

Jazz music director Kevin Anderson, known to listeners as �The Moose,� credits music diversity for the station�s newest honor.

�We have seven different formats, including gospel, Hispanic, jazz, R&B, blues, rap and reggae,� Anderson said. �Our variety means there�s something for everyone.�

�We have new shows in the works, including a Christian teen talk show and a hip-hop talk show,� Dixon said. �It put a smile on our faces [to be ranked number 12], but there�s work to be done. More great things are about to happen.�

Shawntay Folk, a senior at Bethel High School in Hampton, Va., who is an on-air personality trainee, said she hopes to use WHOV as a starting point.

�I�ve learned a lot during my training, and I know I will learn so much more,� Folk said.

�I�ve also met so many pleasant people that I know will be great contacts.� Folk wants to attend Hampton after graduation and plans to continue working with WHOV.

Stephanie Young, a freshman broadcast journalism major from Atlanta, said she thinks WHOV�s professionalism is what earned it the high ranking.

�[When I first listened], I didn�t even know I was listening to Hampton�s station,� Young said. �They are really good.�

Briana Flowers is a Hampton University student who writes for the Hampton Script.