UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — When the NFL draft opens on April 25 at 8 p.m. in Detroit, a team of Penn State students will be on hand to provide live coverage of the high-profile talent selection process as they have for the past decade and a half.
A three-member team will anchor coverage in person, with shows airing from 7 p.m. to midnight April 25 and from 6 p.m. to midnight April 26 on the streaming station that was established in 2002.
The students know it’s a working trip.
“This is one of the highlights of my college career. Just like any outlet, I want to make sure we provide factual information in a timely manner,” said Emily McGlynn, a senior journalism major from Birmingham, Michigan, and one of the student general managers for CommRadio. “I also want to publish unique, captivating content. I hope we can talk to as many people as possible, but I know that’s not always the case.”
The on-site coverage team includes fellow seniors Emma Holtz, an advertising/public relations major from Pittsburgh, and Jakob Schnur, a journalism major from Long Island, New York. While all have completed a variety of media- and sports media-related opportunities at Penn State, they said they appreciate the importance and value of covering the NFL draft this week.
“CommRadio has provided me opportunities of professional and personal growth,” Holtz said. “I am proud of the content I’ve produced for Penn State football, Super Bowl LVII and various talk and live shows over my time. This club is incredibly special to me, and I will graduate in May with many cherished memories!”
“We have been planning for this coverage for a little over two months now, but I have been studying up on this class of prospects since the start of the college football season,” Schnur said. “When I joined CommRadio my two biggest goals were to call Penn State football and to cover the draft. There were many times where I thought neither of those dreams would ever come true, yet here we are.”
CommRadio was the first collegiate media entity to cover the draft from start to finish and Penn State students have been on location more often than their counterparts from any other school to cover the event in the past decade and a half.
“We believe in giving students opportunities, and we’ve been blessed to have the support to make these kinds of things happen,” said Jeff Brown, a lecturer in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications and general manager of CommRadio.
That support includes annual approvals from administrators as well as donor funds that enable student travel for such opportunities.
Nearly 300 students participate with CommRadio each academic year. It provides news and sports coverage from Penn State with opportunities ranging from advertising and promotions to on-air duties such as conducting play-by-play of Penn State varsity and high school sports, as well as hosting talk shows focused on a variety of topics.