Livingstone College is on the air.

Tune in to WLJZ 107.1 FM, the heart and soul of Blue Bear nation, for music, campus news and updates on the happenings of Livingstone College.

WLJZ 107.1 FM is a low-powered FM radio station, which was deemed operational on Dec. 7, 2017. The official launch was in February during the winter meeting of the college’s Board of Trustees that coincided with Founder’s Day.

The purpose of the station is to serve as a bridge between the campus and the local community of Salisbury and surrounding areas, said Justin Walker, Livingstone’s communications project and technical specialist, who spearheaded the project.

The student-operated radio station will feature programming that highlights campus information; student/faculty-led discussions on local, national and international news; community event spotlights and announcements; and music from various genres including jazz, Afro-Cuban, hip-hop, R&B fusion, gospel and more.

The station’s current wattage is 70, but it is licensed for 100 watts. The college plans to install a 100-foot tower to expand the reach of the station beyond the city limits and cover all of Rowan County, Walker said.

Currently, the station’s local coverage area includes Salisbury, East Spencer and Spencer. Distant coverage consists of Granite Quarry and Faith. Woodleaf, China Grove, Rockwell, Churchland and Linwood are on the edge of the coverage area.

The station is located on the first floor of the W.J. Walls Center in the former music studio.

“The possibilities for this station are exciting, including using students to help with production, programming and announcing,” said Dr. State Alexander III, Livingstone’s executive assistant to the president and vice president of communications and public relations. “It is an additional tool to share our stories and extend our reach to the community.”

“The college is exploring the idea of offering a major of study in communications and this station would be an essential component of that,” said Dr. Jimmy R. Jenkins, Sr., Livingstone College president.

WLJZ 107.1 FM is also available on Amazon’s Alexa, iHeartRadio and tunein.

New website more trendy

The radio station can also be heard on Livingstone College’s new website and app, LC Connect.

The new website redesign (www.livingstone.edu) was unveiled just in time for the CIAA tournament, held Feb. 27-March 3.

The redesign is more contemporary and features real-time tweets from Livingstone’s Twitter page, and posts from the school’s Instagram and Facebook pages.

The site also offers alumni and students a chance to share their stories of success or highlights of their careers.

“There have been substantial changes within higher education technology and its integration that we as an institution needed to implement in order to fulfill the president’s mission of taking students from where they are to where they need to be. This website will help us do that,” said Walker, who redesigned the website.

“We believe the redesign will reinforce Livingstone’s position as a contender in education, foster a boost in campus pride and morale, and give visitors to the website an intimate look at our campus culture and community. With the new design, we expected an increase in website visitors, but not to the degree that we’ve seen thus far – nearly 15,000 visitors in the first week. We look forward to feedback and the exciting new developments to come,” he said.

“We have to stay on top of what is trendy and our website redesign is more attractive and functional,” Jenkins said.

LC Connect is Livingstone’s app and is available in Google Play and in the iTunes store. Users can listen to the campus radio station as well as select the types of notifications he/she would like to receive, such as alumni, staff, faculty, student or emergency alerts.