At Trinity, students like Devan Karp ’22 get a chance to have their voices heard across multiple channels.
Karp, a communication major from Kingwood, Texas, has become an instantly recognizable voice on Trinity’s campus across multiple channels. He’s an anchor and executive producer with Tiger TV, Trinity’s student-run network, and he works on KRTU, Trinity’s Jazz radio station—and these aren’t the only places you’ll hear his voice.
“Coming to Trinity, I’m not just a TV anchor. I’ve gotten to try radio too: not everyone does both,” Karp says. “And something a lot of people don’t know is that I also get to use my voice in the Trinitones a capella group as a beatboxer. I really wanted to go to a school that would match my interests and my personality, a place where you can have multiple interests—that’s why I ended up at Trinity.”
At Trinity, the Department of Communication is a perfect place to develop a versatile skill set that can lead to a wide range of promising careers. It’s one of the most popular majors on campus, and as Karp says, is chock-full of amazing professors, networking opportunities, and chances to get real-world experience. Coming to Trinity in 2018, Karp started taking a couple communication classes, started working with Tiger TV, and “just fell in love.”
Karp, right, has developed his skills as an anchor and reporter both on and off Trinity's campus.
“The comms department is appealing because there’s such a wonderful array of subjects that you can really sample everything you want,” Karp says. “I’ve taken TV classes, radio classes, I’ve analyzed films, studied public relations, marketing, advertising and fundraising, and I’m doing academic research. There’s just so much you can do here.”
Communication students can expect to take lots of entry level classes on all types of communication, “which gives you a great look at everything the field has to offer,” Karp says. “And the great thing about these classes is that even in the entry levels, your professors are always keeping an eye out for really great talent.”
There’s also a strong set of scholarship opportunities for communication students at Trinity, both institutional and external, Karp says. “I’ve earned a series of Texas broadcasting scholarships, and I’m also on the Presidents Scholarship for my academic merit. There’s a need-based scholarship, and I’m a recipient of the Kemper-Deal-James-McRory endowed Journalism scholarship. If you want to study here, there are scholarships for you,” he says. “Our professors are great about letting students know when these scholarships become available, and they’ve also been happy to help me with applications.”
Karp has enjoyed getting back into Trinity’s fully-equipped, state-of-the-art Richardson Communications center, which includes an interactive multimedia lab, two television studios with control rooms, a radio studio for KRTU-FM, and work stations for digital design, journalism, and gaming. This is where Karp, as an anchor, helps put together Tiger TV: a professional-level, student-run television station. This operation runs three shows: Newswave (hard news, where Karp is the anchor and executive producer), as well as Studio 21 (entertainment news), and the Not So Late Show (sketch comedy).
While Karp uses the full range of his skills as a communication major on Tiger TV, he also points out that the station draws on majors outside the department, too. “It takes a lot of different people to put a show together,” Karp says. “You’ve got art majors helping with design, STEM majors bringing analytical perspectives. You need people with the skillset to help put things together technically. And that’s important, because we’re not just making TV for comm students, we’re making TV for Trinity.”
Karp has found that his communication major also plays well with his political science minor, where he has enjoyed taking classes focusing on local and national politics. Karp has particularly enjoyed classes with professor Juan Sepúlveda: a former presidential administration member and a presidential campaign staffer. Right now, Karp is taking a special topics course on mayoral problem solving, which works with San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg ’98 to explore how local government produces meaningful work through red tape.
Karp, on-air, reports on the Covid-19 pandemic for a local T.V. station.
Outside the classroom, Karp says that Trinity creates strong opportunities for undergraduate research and internships. “I’ve had a wonderful experience with internships at Trinity,” he says. “I’ve interned with the marketing department of the San Antonio Symphony, managing social media, and fundraising. I’ve interned with (local TV station) KSAT 12 ABC, and I got the chance to go out into the field with reporters, pitch stories to editors, and write copy for anchors.”
Most recently, Karp got a chance to put his research, journalism and writing skills together for a project that hit close to home: the Voices Program. As part of a national team of undergraduate and graduate reporters, Karp helped produce an investigative piece examining diversity in collegiate newsrooms. “We say the best journalism is done by people who truly represent the community, but no one has taken a look at college newsrooms, where many reporters get their start,” Karp says. “We got to be the first in the country to take a look at the ‘pipeline.’”
As Karp prepares for a busy transition into life as a journalist after graduation—when he’s not filming with Tiger TV, he’s completing his senior capstone reporting on homelessness in San Antonio during COVID-19—Karp also notes that Trinity is a place where his side interests don’t get drowned out. “This is a place where, even when I’m busy, I still get the chance to explore my passions,” Karp says. “I don’t know a lot of other schools where you can be involved in so many different organizations and still do well in class.”
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