What about a college radio station? USC has one - they play all rock, and it’s a great station. Around here we have country stations and crappy top 40 stations like wjmx that play whiny teen stuff and thug in da club music.
Low power FM would be inexpensive, and they would have to beat students out of the studio with sticks that would want to DJ.
I don’t know how advertising works on lpfm but it’s different than regular radio. Less of it, for one. I think the DJs just say “this hour sponsored by…”
The nice thing about this type of station is they won’t have to subscribe to what network executives say they have to play, and won’t be paying djs to play certain songs. You could have rock or rap or country based on the dj, and even local unsigned bands. Give real Hartsville people an opportunity to get on the radio. Live remotes or broadcasts from Hartsville idol, Coker games…etc.
This area has a lot of art where painting, photos and sculpture are concerned, but when the only way to get decent radio is to subscribe to XM - something is wrong. Let our ears have the diversity that our eyes have!

Cool idea!  My high school had a station in the 80’s (I am revealing my age here, ahem) and it was very successful, and nearby Bowdoin College has had one for years and years.

this is the only town where i’ve lived that doesn’t have food delivery (except pizza)...if some of the places delivered food to college campus and city limits they would “pull” the college into the city some.

does Coker have a college newspaper?  Where I went the college newspaper was made available all over the city and this brought the city and the college together some too….of course we had more than 20K students ...

Good question. I am glad someone is asking it. I went to a small college in Indiana a little smaller than Coker, but much like Coker in the sense that there was somewhat of a “rift” between the townspeople and the students.
I live adjacent to the campus, and I rarely meet students, even my neighbors. I think a meet and greet on a community level would be an interesting idea to develop. Not sure what it would look like, but it could look something like Taste of Hartsville. Organizing an event on the Campus, getting local vendors involved and somehow promoting the idea to students that the community embraces them and is interested in them would be an important step. But I think it becoming a marketing event for hartsville businesses would be a mistake. The message needs to be “welcome to our community.”
Another idea is getting students involved in the local schools. There are some schools that do big brother type programs with local kids. I know some teachers in and around hartsville would love to see college students working with them.
I don’t know whether Coker has any kind of community service requirement, but it would also be a good idea.

Let’s face it, Hartsville will never become a “college town” because it does not have the businesses, dynamics, and attractions that would make it a college town. It’s too late to plan for that. The city is already completely developed. Every college town that I’ve ever been in has a unique section of the town that is attached to the college and offers shops, restaurants, stores, etc. to strengthen the tie between the town and the students. For example, you have Five Points in Columbia on the edge of the USC campus and it is packed full with college students on weekend nights. Clemson has it’s district for students. UNC has it’s unique area in Chapel Hill. UT (where I got a graduate degree) has Volunteer Blvd. and Cumberland Ave. full of shops, resaurants, discos, bars, etc. for students in Knoxville.
Why didn’t the early planners of Hartsville designate College Avenue between 4th and 5th streets as a hub for college students? It will never become that with a large church, dance studio, steak house, and florist shop among the businesses there. And who wants to go there with all the awful pot holes in the street which are an embarrasment to the city? Why doesn’t the mayor and city council want to repair this street?
The Midnight Rooster comes the closest to being a place for college students to meet. Perhaps Wings and Ale is another one.
Truly sad.

Jimmy, comparing Hartsville and Coker to major colleges and their cities is really not reasonable.  Think about it.  It would be nice if it was easy to eat in the dining hall with the students.  The doors are locked and they don’t take cash in the evening so it really is not possible.  Make it accessible and publicize it.

JTOL: Okay, you are right, I should not be comparing Hartsville and Coker to major colleges and their cities. However, I was giving some exaggerated samples of “what might have been, coulda been,” etc. But I would wager that there are other college towns the size of Coker/Hartsville that have better ties and attractions in a section of the business areas that cater to students and alumni. College Avenue would have been the perfect venue to do this.
You said we cannot eat in the dining hall with the students. Did you know that back in the 1950s and 60s Coker used to have events like “The Madrigal Singers” during Christmas season in the dining hall and they sold tickets to the public?
What happened to those traditions?
It’s time for the marketing department at Coker to step up and find ways to get the citizens of Hartsville more involved with the students. I can think of dozens of ways they can do that, but I don’t think anyone would read them here. However, if they want to hire me to develop a program and marketing strategy, I am available and willing.