The common room of WHUS, where Nick Lajara puts on his radio show every Thursday from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m. Photo by Kush Kumar / The Daily Campus.
Nick Lajara, a seventh-semester general studies major, was inspired in June of this year to start a radio show to give a voice to the unheard.
This idea transformed into spotlighting guests ranging from students, friends and representatives for on-campus organizations every Thursday from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m. on his radio show at WHUS.
“I want it to be an outlet where students can show their talents,” Lajara said. “I want it to be a platform for students.”
Lajara also showcases off-campus organizations and has recently had a show featuring four artists from Connecticut People Records, a record label based in Hartford for local artists. He has also recently featured students from the Black Students Association to talk about events they were holding.
Laraja said what makes his show stand out is that no topic is off-limits to talk about with guests.
He said he likes to push limits and talk about hot button social issues, like gun control, and have people on the show with differing opinions on these topics.
“It’s important to be talking about these issues,” he said. “We’re in college; there’s no reason to be fearful.”
Discussion is a large part of Lajara’s radio show, and he said he tries to make it interactive so listeners can weigh in on the topics discussed. Lajara takes calls from listeners during the show and reads messages from social media on-air to include the audience in the conversation.
“I wanna hear the young kids’ perspective about what’s going on,” Lajara said. “It’s important to hear our perspective, our side of the story.”
A portion of the show is dedicated to music mixes made by Lajara’s DJ and cousin Alexis Feliciano, a graduate from Providence College. Feliciano develops mixes that share a common theme or sound and Lajara starts a discussion about them, such as comparing artists like Lil Uzi Vert and Travis Scott.
Lajara said it’s a rewarding experience to be able to showcase so many different kinds of people. In one of his first shows, for example, he played local independent artists and showed them all videos of them getting played on the radio. He said it was rewarding seeing the artists’ reaction to being on the radio able to give small artists visibility that they might not have had otherwise.
In the upcoming show, Lajara is inviting a graduate student to talk about life after undergraduate studies and the transition to graduate school. He will also be talking about suicide awareness week and the different events the campus is hosting along with other resources for people with suicidal ideations. Lajara is also a manager of the UConn football team and plans on interviewing members of the team as well as women’s basketball team and men’s basketball team members.
He is also planning on talking with different cultural centers about Homecoming and SUBOG representatives about First Night and the fall concert.
Lajara is interested in doing radio after graduation but is keeping his options open.
“I’m just seeing where it goes, because it’s definitely a passion of mine,” Larjara said. “If the opportunity arises, I’d love to follow that path.”
Gladi Suero is a campus correspondent for The Daily Campus. She can be reached via email at gladi.suero@uconn.edu.