By Michael Bernaschina, Staff Writer
Ever since she was a child, WQSU general manager Dawn Benfer has had a passion for radio.
“I started in radio when I was eight years old,” Benfer said. “I was doing radio commercials for my family’s business at the time.”
Benfer began by doing 30-second commercials and later moved onto 60-second commercials. “I’d just be in the radio station all the time recording these commercials and I would always think to myself, ‘This is really cool.’”
Benfer attended Williamsport Area Community College for two years and worked for their radio station, where she served as station manager among other positions.
“Meanwhile, I started working part-time at that same radio station that I was doing commercials in,” Benfer said. “Working weekend shifts, overnight shifts, anything I could do. I wanted to be a part of that radio and just said that this is what I want to do. I want to have a microphone in my hand and I want to do my part to help make a difference in people’s lives.”
After taking a year off of school to help with her family’s business, Benfer began attending the Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP).
At IUP, she worked at the school radio station where she held a number of positions including program director, station manager, public service director and news director. She also earned a bachelor’s degree in communications.
Benfer graduated college in 1992, and immediately began working at the local radio station in Selinsgrove as the news director. From there she became the traffic director, and, following that, she worked in the sales department.
She then became an on-air personality in the mornings. After that, she went on to become the program director and then finally the operations manager, while still serving as an on-air personality.
“I did a little bit of everything,” Benfer said. “That’s always been my philosophy with my employees and now is my philosophy with students as well – learn a little bit about everything.
You’ll become a more valuable employee and a more valuable candidate when you’re looking for a job once you leave these university walls.”
After working at the Selinsgrove radio station for 10 years, Benfer moved to Cape Girardeau, Missouri after being offered a job managing the eight radio stations and programming staff there.
She served in this job for a couple years before moving to Virginia and then, after the birth of another grandchild, decided it was time to move back home.
“It was too hot, too many tornadoes, too far away from home,” Benfer said.
Upon returning home, Benfer began working at Sunbury’s Revitalization, a non-profit group dedicated to promoting
economic development and community-building. As a part of Sunbury’s Revitalization, she worked as a community volunteer, putting together non-profit events and working with other volunteers.
After working with Sunbury’s Revitalization, Benfer applied for the position of general manager at WQSU, a job she said instantly appealed to her.
“Everything appealed to me because once radio is in your blood, it’s hard to get radio out of your blood,” Benfer said. “I’m so passionate about the broadcast industry, I wanted to share that passion with the students. I wanted to be a part of mentoring them and training them, and I just thought that this is such a wonderful opportunity.”
“WQSU has been around for 50 years, and they get it,” she added. “They know what it takes to train the students.”
Benfer started in her position on Nov. 17, 2016, and recalls being welcomed by the communications staff and professors.
“It was a great experience first coming in, and everybody – the students at the time, the staff members of WQSU – all welcomed me with open arms and I felt like I was already part of the family, and I was only here for one day,” Benfer said. “And that’s a great feeling.”
Benfer looks back on her first year at WQSU fondly and has many hopes for her future at the station.
“It’s even better than I thought it was going to be,” Benfer said. “There is so much energy and so much passion in the station and in the department, and everyone that’s on the team wants nothing but the best for WQSU.”
“[Benfer’s] very helpful and she goes all in for the station,” said Julie Lentz, operations manager at WQSU. “She
wants the best for the students.” “Change has to happen every now and then, and change can be good, change can be bad. I’m sure some of the previous student staff were hesitant, but I think if they were still here they’d see the positive impact has left,” she added. Benfer is also a firm believer in top-of-mind awareness, which she looks forward to continuing in WQSU’s involvement in the campus and local community.
In addition to increasing WQSU’s top-of-mind awareness, another goal she has is to obtain new equipment for the station so students are knowledgeable about all the latest technology when they enter a commercial radio station.
“They’re going to hear the word ‘voice-tracking’ and I want to be able to teach them how to voice-track, to be prerecorded if they’re unable to be on their show but still sound like they’re live and local. I hope that we can do that someday too,” Benfer said. “And to keep WQSU top-of- mind awareness in the community, and keep us going for another 50 years.”
Member, Gel Ramos said,” Dawn encourages our growth as broadcasters and does her absolute best only the best opportunities and learning experiences for the SU students here at WQSU.
WQSU covers a lot of the sports games, national and local news, and events happening on campus.
