Today we have launched our first in a new series of Mandarin language podcasts. This is an endeavor undertaken by the Web and Mobile Department to increase our efforts to reach out to the Mandarin-speaking community, which is the largest international body on campus.

We have hired two outstanding students to be our Mandarin language podcasters, and we hope to use the podcast to do a better job connecting with the entire student body. The podcasts will come out every Thursday in the regular school year, beginning consistently next fall and for the remainder of this year.

These podcasts have been in the works for more than a year now. I personally have been involved with the project since January, and would like to extend personal and departmental thanks to International Programs for the guidance and financial assistance they have given us, as they are funding the podcasters.

Without their monetary grant, the Mandarin podcasts would not be possible. The support we have received from this institution, and from the Department of Foreign Languages, has been astonishing.

Their willingness to help us bring this idea to fruition was humbling, and we are extremely grateful for their support.

We plan that in the future the podcasts will grow from newscasting into an additional cultural discussion, and we hope to use them to become more in-tune with the student body as a whole so The Daily Evergreen can cover issues that its students – not just its American students – care about. The Mandarin podcasts are the Office of Student Media’s first non-English endeavor, but we do not plan for them to be our last. We want to begin with Mandarin and expand into other languages, as our resources allow.  

You can find the podcast online at dailyevergreen.com/multimedia/podcasts, and they will be shared on social media throughout the week. I strongly encourage all responses to the podcast and hope to establish a more effective dialogue with the international and Mandarin-speaking community.

If you have any upcoming events that you would like to submit for inclusion in our podcast, please email them to [email protected]. I want this podcast to be a way to reach out to a greater percentage of the student body, and so I welcome any and all feedback.

I hope these podcasts continue making the news more accessible. Thank you for listening.