Mary Olson

THOUSAND OAKS, CA. - The public can tour the new KCLU Broadcast Center and hear from the general manager during an event presented by the California Lutheran University Community Leaders Association.

The program will begin at 8 a.m. Friday, Sept. 30, with breakfast in the KCLU Community Room. At 8:30 a.m., General Manager Mary Olson will discuss the station and Thousand Oaks City Manager Scott Mitnick, a KCLU Advisory Board member, will talk about the role that National Public Radio stations like KCLU serve in the community. Visitors can then tour the center.

The $2.9 million center, which opened in May on the CLU campus, houses four state-of-the-art production rooms. Dubbed The Paulucci Studios, they include the station’s first dedicated newsroom. The two-story, 6,570-square-foot center also provides facilities for educational opportunities and community events that the previous center couldn’t accommodate. The Martin V. and Martha K. Smith Education Suite features a fully digitized classroom next to a student lab, providing an observation and workshop environment to train CLU broadcast journalism students. The second student lab will house a student-run digital Internet radio station.

The new center replaced the tiny studio in CLU’s Mount Clef Residence Hall where the KCLU staff had produced award-winning local news and public affairs programs since it signed on in 1994. KCLU, which serves about 70,000 weekly listeners in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, has received more than 140 awards for broadcasting excellence in the last decade.

KCLU provides NPR and local news programming in Ventura County at 88.3 FM, in Santa Barbara County at 102.3 FM and 1340 AM, and online at http://www.kclu.org. A community service of CLU, the station is supported by its listening members and by underwriting from local, regional and national corporations and foundations.

The cost of attending the event is $25. Limited seating is available. To make a reservation, go to http://www.callutheran.edu/cla. The center is located north of Olsen Road on Campus Drive in Thousand Oaks.

First California Bank is a sponsor of the event. The Community Leaders Association was founded to stimulate the community's interest in the university’s academic, athletic and cultural programs. Members organize fundraising and social events throughout the year to support academic departments and student scholarships. The organization has raised more than $1.8 million through the years.

For more information, contact University Relations at 805-493-3151.