BATON ROUGE — Southern University will begin to operate its own radio station starting Friday.

The station, WSUB 106.1 FM “The Bluff," will be run by the school's Department of Mass Communication staff and students.

WSUB will serve as hands-on training for students interested in radio, podcasting and audio production, the school said Wednesday. The station, the school added, is from an agreement between the Louisiana Community Development Capital Fund and Southern.

"The Department of Mass Communication is so proud to lead the way in operating the university’s FCC-regulated radio station," Yolanda Campbell, interim chair of the Department of Mass Communication, said. "I’m especially excited to see our students demonstrate how this hands-on training will prepare them for their careers in the industry. Radio has always been about community, and there’s no one more prepared than Southern to seize this amazing opportunity to be a voice for the Baton Rouge community in music and content creation."

The 24-hour station’s programming will offer a blend of gospel, hip-hop, R&B and pop, a news release added. According to Southern, the station's immediate predecessor is WTQT, a long-running 24-hour gospel station.

Campbell will serve as WSUB's station manager. Nicolette Gordon, a Southern alum and seasoned radio professional, will take on the role of operations manager, with long-time WTQT program director Jammin Jacque Griffin serving as WSUB’s program director.

A ceremonial transition will happen at WTQT headquarters Friday, with WSUB starting its broadcast at 12:01 a.m.. For its first weekend, WSUB will air gospel music in tribute to WTQT before starting its regular programming at 6 a.m. Monday.