SFA to celebrate opening of renovated radio and TV studios

The newly renovated SFA TV2 studio at Stephen F. Austin State University.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - A ribbon cutting for the newly renovated SFA TV2 studio and KSAU radio station at Stephen F. Austin State University will be held Thursday, Sept. 22, in the Boynton Building, 2126 Alumni Drive.

The public is invited to attend the event hosted by SFA's College of Liberal and Applied Arts and the Division of Global Media and Contemporary Culture. Guests may tour the station's new modern, interactive media sets, which will provide SFA students with the opportunity to operate state-of-the-art equipment in a contemporary real-world setting.

A reception with refreshments will begin at 4 p.m., and the ribbon cutting will be broadcast live on the 5 p.m. newscast of the local ABC affiliate, KTRE.

The total cost of the renovation was approximately $450,000, and the construction was a collaboration between the university's Physical Plant and the SFA School of Theatre, said Dr. John Hendricks, chair of the Division of Global Media and Contemporary Culture.

"The SFA Regents and administration have provided our students with a tremendous opportunity to work in a new, state-of-the-art facility with 21st-century equipment," he said. "This type of hands-on education experience is a great advantage to our students, who will leave SFA extremely well prepared to compete for jobs in the media."

In conjunction with the ribbon cutting, Houston's KTRK-TV sports director and SFA alumnus Bob Allen will speak to journalism classes and participate in a roundtable discussion with other media professionals. Allen has the longest tenure of any major market sports anchor in the country, having worked at Houston's ABC television affiliate since 1974.

The roundtable, which is open to anyone interested in learning more about media careers, will be held at 3 p.m. in the Baker Pattillo Student Center, Room 2.201.

If you plan to attend the reception and ribbon cutting, please RSVP to libarts@sfasu.edu. For additional information about the day's events, call (936) 468-2803.