Young adults planning to attend the 2024 ARRL National Convention at Dayton Hamvention® can look forward to meeting many other young hams at the event, including college students representing the ARRL Collegiate Amateur Radio Program (CARP). The convention is on May 17 - 19, 2024, at the Greene County Fairgrounds and Expo Center in Xenia, Ohio.

CARP will occupy a booth in the large ARRL exhibit area, which will be staffed with college students and advisors for the program. CARP will also have a forum at the end of the ARRL Youth Rally on Saturday, May 18, at 4 PM in Forum Room 3. The forum will be followed by a pizza party at a nearby restaurant.  

"The CARP booth will be a great place to connect with other college-aged hams, and to learn more about the extensive network of college amateur radio clubs across the nation," said Andy Milluzzi, KK4LWR, from Clermont, Florida.  

Andy and his brother Tony Milluzzi, KD8RTT, from Lenexa, Kansas, are co-advisors for CARP, and they moderate a monthly Zoom meetup to help network college radio clubs. The brothers have recruited many college students who are regular CARP participants to support the booth and related activities at Hamvention.  

Morgan Lyons, KI5SXY, is one of the volunteers. She's a student at the Missouri University of Science and Technology and a very active radio amateur. "I'm super excited to be working with ARRL at the CARP booth at Hamvention! This will be my second time at Dayton Hamvention, and I had so much fun last year. I'll also be helping with the Collegiate Amateur Radio Forum," she said.  

The energy around CARP is exciting. Lyons, whose other interests include rocketry, is an aerospace engineering major and serves as president of the ARRL-affiliated Missouri S&T Amateur Radio Club, W0EEE, which recently celebrated 100 years of existence. She says that legacy is one she's proud to carry at the National Convention. "I love representing the college students in ham radio and showing folks that ham radio [will continue with the future generations]!"  

Additional student volunteers will include Andrej Antunovikj, K8TUN, and Adam Goodman, W7OKE, both undergraduates attending Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and members of the Case Amateur Radio Club, W8EDU -- also an ARRL Affiliated Club. "I'm looking forward to going to an amateur radio convention and meeting other students from the CARP program in-person," said Antunovikj.  

The ARRL Collegiate Amateur Radio Program is sponsored in part by the W1YSM Snyder Family Collegiate & ARRL Affiliated Club Endowment Fund. The program was first established in 2017, and today includes an extensive community of participating students, alumni, and faculty. In addition to its monthly Zoom meetups, students can make connections through the ARRL CARP Facebook group and Discord. For more information about CARP, visit www.arrl.org/WeWantU.  

See the full list of ARRL National Convention activities at www.arrl.org/expo. Buy tickets for the convention on the Hamvention website.