Students' union wants to axe campus radio at Memorial University in Newfoundland

CHMR-FM station manager, left, is shown in this handout photo from 2025 after interviewing St. John's, N.L., musician Liz Fagan, right. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout-Rhea Rollmann (Mandatory Credit)

ST. JOHN'S — The students’ union at Newfoundland and Labrador’s only university wants to axe the campus radio station.

The executive committee with the Memorial University students’ union has recommended to the board that it stop funding CHMR-FM, with a vote expected on April 1.

The union said in a social media post this month that it was nearly $300,000 in debt at the end of 2024 and it is reviewing its services.

Station manager Rhea Rollmann says she and her team were blindsided by the news, especially after she had gone to them with a five-year plan for the station to wean itself off student fees.

Rollmann says CHMR creates jobs for students and gives them key, hands-on experience that can lead to successful careers in journalism and the arts.

She says other campus radio stations have found ways to become financially self-reliant, and she is asking the union to give CHMR at least year to do the same.

In the meantime, local musicians, radio hosts and retired journalists have been posting on social media in support of the station.

“CHMR is a huge part of getting local artists heard,” said St. John’s musician Liz Fagan in a Facebook message to The Canadian Press. “It can be so hard to get your music heard, and it’s folks like CHMR that care.”

The Memorial University Students’ Union did not immediately return a request for comment.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 29, 2026.