When I joined the RC staff as the new communications and alumni engagement coordinator in March 2018, I started meeting with everyone who would talk to me-  faculty, fellow staff members, students, and alumni. The conversations were so juicy and rich with meaningful dialogue that I wanted to create a forum to share them with our broader RC community. I come from a background in theater and voice training, and so I'm especially attuned to the effect that the voice has on the way a story is told... and so, I had the "a-ha" moment: why not a podcast? I didn't have formal training on audio editing nor recording, but with the University's resources, a trusted colleague with years of experience as my consultant, and a big dollop of that RC "roll up your sleeves and figure it out" attitude, I started recording interviews. 

I'm excited to share the podcast with you because I trust it will help you reconnect to the RC if you haven't been by in a while. It's my vision that it'll introduce you to people in the College community you may have heard of but haven't gotten a chance to hear from. It'll take you into the thick of it -- into the classrooms, dialogues, and brainspace that make our programs and initiatives uniquely RC. 

Here's the link to the podcast webpage.

Click it to listen to the pilot episode, an interview with two outstanding students who just graduated in the class of 2018, and the second episode, an interview with our RC director, Jon Wells. We haven't landed on the final name for the podcast, and you have the chance to weigh in via the form at the lower half of that page. We are in the process of creating an iTunes podcast channel so you can subscribe on your smart phone and get automatic updates when we publish future episodes. 

Thanks to Rudy Thomas, my colleague in the RC who manages the Keene Theater and serves as our media consultant. You've been indispensable to me as I've launched this series. Thanks to the interviewees so far - your time and energy are the bread and butter of the podcast. Thanks to our music faculty Mark Kirschenmann, Katri Ervamaa and Mike Gould for lending your music to the podcast for its first episodes. Thanks to our chief administrator, Carl Abrego, for believing in this project and giving me the latitude to give it a try.

Finally, thanks to you for listening. We hope you enjoy what you hear. 

-Robby Griswold
robbyg@umich.edu