Meet 2018 Distinguished Alumna Dee Perry
Building on her love of all things involved with arts and culture, Dee Perry found her niche on the Cleveland airwaves through public radio. Her melodic voice, disarming interviewing style and sharp intellect afforded Dee a highly successful career which spanned four decades. A Cleveland native, Dee is best known for her 20+ years hosting the interview show “The Sound of Applause” on WCPN, which offered her a platform to interview a wide array of talent, to share stories with Northeast Ohioans and to create programming which challenged a listener’s thinking and broadened his/her perspectives.
Why did you choose CSU for your degree?
I started my undergraduate studies at Barnard College in New York City, dropping out at the end of my freshman year—much to my parents’ dismay!—even though my grades were good. I was impatient to start what I thought was my ‘real life,’ living and working in NYC. Five years of toiling at a series of low skill, low wage jobs taught me a valuable lesson—I needed a trade! I heard some radio commercials for a six-month course at a broadcasting school in midtown Manhattan, and I signed up. That school’s advice to its underprepared graduates was to move OUT of New York City to find their first on-air jobs. I took that advice and came back home to Cleveland. After a handful of unsuccessful job interviews, I knew I didn’t have the knowledge or hands-on experience to get any of the radio jobs I wanted, and THAT’s when I began to look into going back to school.
Since I had started at a four-year college and still had credits that were transferable, I wanted to finish at another four-year school that had a good reputation. Besides the positive things I heard, Cleveland State went to the top of my list because it was accessible—I didn’t drive then and needed to go somewhere that was easy to get to on public transportation. Check. I was going to be paying for school myself, so I needed affordable tuition and flexible class hours to accommodate work. Check. I wanted a course of study that would be challenging, engaging, and supportive of my goal to pursue broadcasting as a career. When I found out about CSU’s School of Communication, it was check, double check, and mate.
How did CSU and your degree field prepare you for your life and career?
I chose to major in Communication, and the courses I took gave me an overview of broadcasting history. That was important because it made me think about the communications industry in a way I hadn’t before. It opened my eyes to the influence that broadcasting has had on American culture. As I got deeper into the coursework, I began to study interpersonal communication. I can honestly say that the theories and practices I learned in those courses taught me how to understand my fellow humans in ways that are still crucial to the way I work and live. Plus, the electives I took—theater history, film criticism, rhetoric and speech, jazz studies—all prepared me for my much later broadcast work as host of an arts and culture show.
What are your fondest memories/impressions of your time at CSU? Were there any favorite professors?
Some memory ‘snapshots’ that are still vivid:
Exploring acting in a fledgling troupe that rehearsed and performed in the CSU Auditorium. We did well-received productions of Ceremonies in Dark Old Men and El Hajj Malik.
Getting the only ‘A+’ of my entire school record in Instructor Chris Colombi’s Jazz Survey course. I worked hard on a paper about a tumultuous year in U.S. history and how it affected the jazz composers and players of that era. Professor Colombi's recognition of my work made me want to continue doing that kind of in-depth research.
Taking a Rhetoric of Black America course with Dr. Howard Mims in which he challenged me to work harder and be better as a student. Dr. Mims also became my mentor, encouraging me to record Public Service Announcements for CSU to keep my broadcasting skills honed. Then he recommended that I interview for a jazz host job at WABQ-AM, which became my first job in commercial radio.
Tell us about your career history, your proudest achievements, and your current passions?
My first job, at WABQ 1540AM, was just one day a week, hosting a four-hour jazz show on Saturday afternoons. At the time, I was attending CSU full-time and needed weekdays for classes and studying. After a few years, the management changed, and I thought I’d be fired, but instead, I was promoted to weekday host, and I began to study every aspect of the station’s operations. I had started to realize how fleeting on-air broadcasting jobs could be, so I wanted to see if there were other avenues I could pursue in the broadcast field. As I moved to other radio stations, I took on more responsibility as a music director and then program director. I wasn’t happy, though, in commercial radio, which by the mid to late 80’s seemed to consist of a handful of formats that didn’t leave much room for creativity.
I had finished my Bachelor of Arts degree some years earlier, and I still hadn’t found a job that allowed me to use the full range of skills I’d acquired at CSU...until I found public broadcasting.
My decision to take a job in 1989 at what was then known as Cleveland Public Radio was the best one I could have made. Over the next 27 years, I would move from early morning announcer to midday jazz host, to arts and culture talk show host, to senior producer for arts and culture. The titles aren’t significant, though. What I’m most proud of in my career is learning to create programs that encouraged people to see the arts as a vital force in making the world a better place to live.
Though I’m retired from full-time broadcasting, I’d say that improving the world around us by celebrating arts and culture is STILL my main focus. Instead of practicing my craft in a broadcast studio I now take my show on the road, so to speak...advising, writing, researching, interviewing, and hosting for many local organizations that need an arts ambassador at large. Life is good.
What advice would you give current students?
Seize the opportunity to explore and enhance your critical thinking skills. Don’t just repeat the notes you take in class or see in your textbooks. GO FURTHER! Some of the best marks I received were for papers or essay tests where I challenged statements that were made in class, and presented my reasons and evidence for believing something else to be true. Your professors aren’t looking to turn out parrots of themselves; they want to know that they are helping to encourage strong, independent thinkers. BE one.
What does it mean to you to be awarded this honor?
It means the world to me to be chosen as the 2018 CLASS Distinguished Alumna. Cleveland State University didn’t just change my life, in many ways, CSU made my life. The university demanded excellence in research, communication, and writing skills, all of which were crucial to my work life. It introduced me to teachers and subjects that enriched my understanding of the world without and the world within. It also connected me to a community that celebrates life-long learning, which has been of immense value to my growth as a human and spiritual being.
Any other thoughts you’d like to share?
Just one. I can’t say that I know the meaning of life, but I CAN say that one of the ways to get at it is through educating yourself. Cleveland State University opened the door to a never-ending path of learning, and I am most grateful...Thank you!
