Humans of Regis: John Hickey

(Photo courtesy of KRCX)

What brought you to Regis?

I have been here since I started at Regis in 1989. I was just married to my wife who is from New York, her parents had moved out here when she was in college so we had come out a couple times and when we got married we knew we wanted to eventually move out to Colorado. So when we got married we figured that was the time to do it when everything was new. When I came out I didn’t know that Regis existed. I worked in colleges back in New York and I looked at what colleges were around here. Neither one of us had jobs when we came out here. I saw that Regis was here and that Regis was the only Catholic college in the entire region. In New York there are Catholic colleges everywhere so it was just like I have got to get in there. It took a year, but a year later I ended up getting the job.

What is your favorite Jesuit Value? Why?

I think that my favorite Jesuit Value would be Cura Personalis. I have always been a believer in sort of a holistic approach to life. You have to take care of your intellectual self, your emotional self and your spiritual self. So that has always just resonated with me and its also you know working with students it is a natural one. You get to know students in the classroom and outside of the classroom. That is the one that resonates with me the most.

Tell us about your position as Associate Dean.

I am one of two Associate Deans in the college; we have one Dean so we are a rather small office, which means we do everything. I liken it to keeping the wheels rolling. We have to make sure that we have classes, make sure we have faculty, and make sure the semester goes through. It is good. It is a busy job. In this office there is an awful lot of traffic. People are constantly coming in asking questions so I spend a lot of my time answering questions and solving problems, but again, we are a tight office. We have a great staff in the dean’s office. It is a fun place to work.

What has been your best memory while at Regis?

I think one of the things I am most proud of at my time here at Regis has been having KRCX’s music playing outside of the student center. There is nothing better than walking across the quad and hearing a song that you particularly like. I have been KRCX’s advisor for a bunch of years and when I first started here they did not have that music playing out on the quad so I think that is one of the things I am most proud of. It just feels right to hear music across the quad.

Is there anything else you would like the Regis community to know?

I think we have got a really special place here at Regis. It doesn't happen without a lot of people working. Especially in times like this where there is a lot of division. I think it is nice to recognize what we have here at Regis. We need to work to make it even better because I am not saying it is perfect. We have a lot of issues just like everywhere has issues. It goes back to that Cura Personalis. A lot of the people who work here, faculty, staff, they really care about what happens. They care about their students so I think that’s really nice to see and be a part of. And figuring out, alright how do we work through it as a community. How do we work through our challenging difficult times as a community?

Samantha Jewell Social Media Editor

Get To Know The KRCX Senior Staff

(Photo:  http://www.krcx.org/)

               A little-known gem lies in the basement of Clarke Hall: KRCX, our college radio station that plays music all day, every day, on the quad and athttp://www.krcx.org/. The KRCX team consists of the honorable sponsor and esteemed leader Dean John Hickey, Co-General Manager and Chief Music Director, Connor McNeir, and Co-General Manager, Web Editor and Marketing Lead, Natalie Doggett. I conducted interviews with our Senior Staff members to give Regis students a look into the personalities of KRCX.

Why did you want to become the faculty leader for KRCX?

John Hickey: “I guess for one, I was asked. The chair of the music department needed someone and asked me. I've always been passionate about music so it was an easy choice.”

How has the stations changed since you time as Faculty Leader?

J: I’ve been with the station 20 years and through the years there's been leaps since its started. It used to have hardwire directly to the dorms, that how we reached the students, then we got an AM antenna, then a FM antenna, then streaming and now we’ve in the new station, it's all been big leaps. And I'm waiting for the next; which is getting an antenna built and use our FM license to broadcast.

With that said, is that what you’d want to leave with KRCX or what do you want to leave as your legacy at KRCX?

J: “Since I've started I've had the dream of KRCX to be the voice of Northeast Denver and to have a station that is the voice of the neighborhood not just the campus.”

What’s your fondest memory with KRCX?

J: “That's a tough one after 20 years. Each year brings a new staff and I would say my best memories were with the staff at those times.”

College radio is, sadly, a dying tradition, but in your own opinion, why is it still relevant and crucial?

J: “People may not be listening to college radio as much as they used to because they have so many options available in their pockets. But working in the station and having a radio show for an hour, to use the microphone.  You could be sitting a room with no one there and right when you flip that switch on, you get nervous, you're under pressure. It’s live.

How long have you worked at krcx?

Natalie Doggett:“This is my fourth year, I was hired Freshman year.”

Connor McNeir: “All four.”

What motivated you to join the station?

N: “I have a love for music, [it’s] always been a hobby, listening and sharing music with people. I remember my grandad would blast Good Morning Vietnam to wake everyone up.”

C: “I think when I was on my tour, in highschool, I heard it our side the caf, I think it was James Blake, and I had a family friend work on the station and asked her about it, so I interviewed when I got to schooland got the job.”

What’s your favorite part of the job?

N: “Having my own [DJ] show, you’re able cocoon yourself in the music and get lost in the station, the staff is also a great support system which is really important for a work space.”

C: “Getting all the new music right when it comes out. I think that's what really cool about college radio ya know, that doesn't happen with terrestrial radio really.”

What’s been your greatest accomplishment with the station?

N: “Freshman year I organized my interview with Sheer Water and taking on the responsibility as a Freshman; and as a Senior teaching new people how to run the station.”

If you could create one new addition to vamp up the station, what would it be?

N: “I just want to see more girls on staff, there's the notion that KRCX is a boys club and I want to debunk that. We need to encourage girls to apply and retain applicants.”

C: “That’s a tough one, um I feel our biggest challenge has been interacting with the student body and getting new listeners…that’s just kinda the uphill battle.”

Ok, these next questions are going to be like a pseudo-Lightning Round. Spotify or Soundcloud?

N: “Spotify.”

C: “Spotify. [It’s] not free though which sucks, but the five dollars is worth it.”

J: “Neither”  

What’s your alternative?

J: “KRCX. I’m not kidding. I listen all the time, I even use it at home. I like listening to new music, I don’t need to listen to music I’ve already heard.”

Folk or Bluegrass music?

N: “Tough one because it's a little bit of both, the Oh Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack is a good mix of both.”

C: “[I’d] go folk probably.”

J: “Folk.”

Ambient or Instrumental music?

N: “Ambient, because I can listen to it while I do homework or to go to sleep.”

 C: “Um, instrumental. More like Explosions in the Sky.”

J: “Neither,.”

The alternative?

J: “ Ya know rock, alternative music”

Vinyls or CD’s?

N: “I have more of a CD collection than a vinyl, I only have the Good Morning Vietnam record haha, I also want some classic beastie boys which would be dope.”

C: “I don't have a use for CD’s anymore so I'd go with vinyl because you get the poster and the download with it too.”

J: “Oh that a tough one vinyls are nice. They're nostalgic but they're not as easy to use and I’m sad to say my stereos not set up to my turntable. But I'm thinking about cracking it out. But vinyls are nostalgic, there was room for notes and it allowed artists to be creative more than a CD does .”

Lizzie Brown Staff Reporter