Flyer Media students excited for new space as construction continues
Digital conceptualization of the Roger Glass Center for the Arts. Photo courtesy of the University of Dayton.
Lauren Cloos | Contributing Writer
“And action,” yelled the director.
After years of hearing about what’s to come, it’s finally arrived. Farewell to the small rooms in Kennedy Union that Flyer TV nd Flyer News meetings have outgrown. So long to the studio cameras that have been in use since the early ’80s. Goodbye to the single booth radio station. It’s time for Flyer Media’s new home.
Flyer Media will move to the Roger Glass Center for the Arts, which is expected to be completed this winter, according to the university. Named after the late UD alum Roger Glass, the arts center will showcase a tailor-made space for Flyer TV, Flyer Radio and Flyer News. Students involved with the clubs said they are anxiously waiting the arrival of the Roger Glass Center for the Arts and the abundance of new opportunities.
“I am excited about all the new equipment that we will be able to utilize,” Hayden Parsons, a sophomore Media Production major at the University of Dayton. “The stuff we have today is old and can be difficult to work with due to its age. Our switcher, the tool that allows us to shoot productions in the studio, broke. It’s a bummer because we lose the ability to learn without it.”
Flyer TV has called Kennedy Union room 100 home since the 1980s. Meetings for Flyer TV take place in a room called the fishbowl, a small editing studio that doesn’t have enough equipment or seats for all the members of Flyer TV.
“When we meet for Flyer TV, I often have to sit on the floor due to the lack of seating,” Parsons said.
The radio station for Flyer Radio is on Artstreet. The initial idea was to have it in the center of the Student Neighborhood. The location has only confused many participants. Flyer News has an office in Kennedy Union that isn’t utilized often due to a shift to working remotely.
Students of Flyer Media are ready for a refresh. The current conditions aren’t favorable, but thanks to donors, the Roger Glass Center for the Arts is possible. Glass, who graduated from Dayton in ’67 with a communication degree, was the primary donor.
“This is an opportunity for all of the arts at UD to come together and have an amazing place to display their talents,” Glass said in an interview with UD. Glass died in 2022.
When the art building opens, it will be the first time all Flyer Media outlets will be under the same roof. The building will be available to the public in December, but the move-in for the entertainment center will start in the fall.
There will be three wings of the Glass Center, and they will all involve the arts here at the University of Dayton. The first wing will be dedicated to theater. There is a Black Box theater in Fitz, but a brand-new theater with a custom light grid will be featured. Classrooms will be located in this hall as well.
The second wing will be dedicated to the music department. A 400-seat music hall will be the centerpiece. An art gallery with local and student artists will be featured.
The final wing is where Flyer Media will be housed. Flyer TV will have a new studio that is about two times the size of the current one, a new audio lab, a radio station with an area devoted to podcasts and a newsroom for Flyer News.
“When I give tours, I’m always reluctant to bring them to the studio because of how outdated everything is, so the opening of Roger Glass will bring new life to the communication department” Director of Flyer Media Pat Enright said.
Similar to the Black Box theater, the studio will come with industry-standard lighting. Quick access into this wing will be available for students to check out camera gear and utilize the equipment at their convenience.
Outside the media production classroom, there will be a single edit suite. It will allow editor sto get a true sense of their project and how it sounds without distractions.
Flyer News will have a gathering space for editorial and production meetings that will be loaded with computers, monitors and whiteboards.
The arts center will introduce a partnership between Flyer Media but between the arts as well. Each department will be able to utilize each other’s expertise.
“Each year media production students create a documentary and they always pick music out of a free library,” Enright said. “With the Glass Center, we could ask music students to compose a background track for the documentary and have Flyer Radio record it.”
The opening of the Roger Glass Center for the Arts will be the final piece in the puzzle for Flyer Media. With all the departments under one roof, Flyer Media may feel more cohesive. Collaboration and intercommunication between the group can thrive in the new environment and take Flyer Media to new heights.
This article was written by a student in the Media Writing course as part of a semester-long enterprise project. Flyer News publishes articles from students in this class for educational and experiential opportunities for students.