Issue #26: Spring 2010

CiTR, the Blue Brigade and the Rise of the Volunteers

by Chris Petty, MFA'86, Editor in Chief

If you tune your radio to 101.9 in the Lower Mainland (or go to www.citr.ca), you will be listening to one of the best college radio stations in North America. You’ll hear things you’ve never heard before (some of which you may never want to hear again), talk that ranges from brilliant to goofy, and a playlist of indie, alt and you-name-it music that will, if you’ll forgive an old-school idiom, blow your mind. You’ll also hear great DJs who range from mellow to hysterical and from academic to hilarious. It’s the most entertaining radio you’re likely to hear anywhere, and it sounds like the heart and soul of UBC.

Since CiTR first hit the airwaves in 1974, every one of the hosts and DJs have been volunteers. Some have been on air for 25 years. Arguably the most famous among them, Nardwuar the Human Serviette, has been broadcasting at 3:30 every Friday afternoon since 1987.

CiTR is a great example of people doing things they love for free, and making the world a better place in the process. (Visit www.citr.ca for more info and some history.)

We saw another great example of that during the Vancouver Olympics and Paralympics. I know many people (me included) poo-pooed the games when Vancouver won the bid, but the way they played out warmed all but the hardest of hearts. IOC heavy-handedness, gazillions of dollars in taxpayer expense and predictions of disaster all melted away with a few bars of “Oh, Canada,” some spectacular athletic performances and the odd, almost tearful feeling of pride we felt.

None of it would have been possible without the help of the Blue Brigade, 20,000 men and women dressed in blue who took tickets, yelled directions over loudspeakers, groomed snow, drove athletes around, wiped water droplets off slalom gates so the next racer wouldn’t get a face-full of wet as he or she screamed past, and the hundreds of other jobs, big and small, that had to be done for things to go right. Impressive, unbelievable and eye-opening.

UBC also has a cadre of volunteers, without which the university would grind to a halt. The Board of Governors might be the most visible and, ultimately, the most powerful volunteer group on campus (they approve budgets, after all), but it’s just the top tier. The Botanical Garden would still be a stunning place if the FOGS (Friends of the Garden) didn’t exist, but it would be inaccessible to you and me without them. Volunteers at the MOA dedicate their time and knowledge to teaching programs and the Museum Shop, and volunteer mentors work with most of our faculties to help students with the sometimes difficult transition from life at the university to life in the job world.
And elsewhere on campus, volunteers work in too many ways to name to make life better for our students.

Here at the Alumni Association we have an active Board of Directors that strikes volunteer committees (from Communications and Awards to Advocacy and Finance) to help us develop and deliver programs and services for our alumni all over the world.

Over the coming year, the Alumni Association will introduce a new program designed to coordinate and generate volunteer opportunities for alumni to use their time and talent in meaningful ways at their alma mater, and harness the social capital of 252,000 UBC graduates.

In the meantime, tune in to CiTR for a taste of what UBC is like today. And remember: you’re listening to the voice of volunteers.