Campus radio station KURE drew criticism from university officials for a comment made on the air during its coverage of the Veishea riot early Sunday morning.

Pete Englin, dean of students, says at some point early in their broadcast, a guest DJ for KURE told students there was a disturbance on Welch Avenue and instructed listeners to head out in that direction.

Soon afterward, Englin says, he called the station and asked DJs to tell students to stay safe by keeping away from the riot. He had no more problems with their broadcast after that point, he says.

Englin says no action against KURE is planned.

Dave Long, general manager for KURE, says the situation seemed like “mass insanity” and wanted to let listeners know what was going on.

“I was trying to do what a radio station should do, which is to provide information to the public in an intelligent manner,” he says. “KURE didn’t intend to incite any violence or riot action. That was probably just an unintentional statement.”

The station’s DJs were reporting on exactly what was happening so students would know what to avoid, says Katie Pfeiffer, program director for KURE.

— Alicia Ebaugh