“Walk to the front between the two large turrets!” read the text message from WZLY historian Berit Raines, directing me to the entrance of Billings Hall, a gothic 1904 building that is home to the Wellesley College radio station as well as various student services and administrative offices. While walking across the lushly landscaped campus on a crisp autumn morning, I felt like I was stepping back in time and it was a fitting introduction to student-run organization that is steeped in history and traditions.
Wellesley College Radio Dates Back to 1942
One of the first carrier current stations at a historically women’s college, WBS (for Wellesley Broadcasting System), launched on April 20, 1942 as a campus-only AM station in Wellesley, Massachusetts. This was very early days for carrier current, with organized efforts beginning with the launch of the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System (IBS) in 1940. Prior to that time, Brown University students created their own system before helping to found IBS in order to assist other radio clubs in building stations. Women’s colleges like Wellesley were part of those efforts.
After decades of campus-only AM broadcasts, WBS worked to expand its potential listening audience in the 1970s. This eventually resulted in the 1976 launch of class D station WZLY on 91.5 FM, which continues to be the station’s spot on the dial. When I visited, the FM signal wasn’t up and running, but it was hoped that the technical issues would soon be resolved. Signs of the station’s past were sprinkled throughout their funky basement space, which WZLY has inhabited since 1983. Flyers celebrating the station’s 80th anniversary included vintage photos, and an old mixing console dating from the carrier current era was propped near the on-air studio.
Wellesley College Traditions at WZLY
WZLY has unique traditions and even slang that ties in with the culture at Wellesley. Several hoops were attached to lights near a purple stole decorated with a screen-printed WZLY logo. Graduating seniors participate in a hoop rolling contest, which is a ritual dating back to the founding of Wellesley in the 1800s. Raines mentioned that different campus organizations have their own hoops, which members can use. Stoles are worn during commencement as a symbol of participation in various groups, including the radio station.
Preserving Material Culture at WZLY
Telling me that the station was “kind of in flux,” Raines explained that WZLY had just begun broadcasting for the semester the week before my visit. As the term was getting underway various projects were in the works, including one to organize and re-shelve the large library of CDs. Raines was recently elected to the historian role and at WZLY that executive board (E-board) position is responsible for both creating and preserving “material culture” for the organization. Some of the related projects include making a broadcast schedule poster, doing a senior photo shoot and creating graduation stoles. The station historian is also responsible for bringing station-produced items to the college archives every year.
I was pleased to also hear that WZLY has collaborated with the archives at Wellesley College and has drawn inspiration for current promotional items from historical materials. At Wellesley College the term “spam” is used to describe posters, flyers and zines created to promote student organizations and departments. Raines explained that some of these items are stamped with an expiration date and posted on cork boards around campus, which are called “spam boards.” In a recent spam-making party, members of the station crafted WZLY-themed decorations to post on their dorm room doors as a way of showing pride in their affiliation with the college radio station.
DIY Promotional Materials and Messages on the WZLY Walls
Handmade WZLY program guides and zines were in various places throughout the station, including a recent mini-zine that was comprised of flyers that DJs made for their shows during a spam-making workshop. I was told that the station attracts an especially crafty group of folks and that creativity extends throughout WZLY’s physical space. Messages and drawings are inked on walls and ceilings and graduating seniors typically leave their mark with heartfelt parting words. Raines plans to scan the walls in order to create a preservable digital representation, especially since other campus spaces have lost similarly graffitied walls after renovations. Raines explained that, “I feel like it’s one of the most significant visual aspects of the space. I don’t think it would be the studio without the writing on the walls.”
Touring WZLY’s Charming Basement Space
Upon descending into the basement digs of WZLY, one arrives at a large open area with a cluster of couches, comfy chairs, sticker-covered tables, and shelves of CDs. A low ledge provides more seating and a step up to a narrow stage-like area where the hoops and stole were displayed. Off to the side is a mysterious small door and graffiti next to it reads “sex cave.”
From that main lobby-like area a few steps take one down to two studios – a training studio (studio B) and the on-air booth (studio A). Between the studios is a narrow tech room with windows overlooking both studios. Outside the studios are more shelves of CDs and some vinyl records. A treehouse-like listening nook is nearby and one can climb a short ladder to ascend into the carpeted mini loft. Old copies of the WZLY program guide, original handmade collaged flyers and music magazines are stashed away in this area so that station members wanting to take a break can peruse the collection of reading material.
Handmade “Rules” Signs Adorn the Studio Walls
During my visit it was between live shows, so the studios were empty and dark. Signs covered the walls describing various rules, including lists of words not to say on the area and pleas to “not offend the locals.” One sign had the message, “If you wouldn’t say it around Grandma, don’t play or say it on the air! AVOID THE OBSCENE,” and was illustrated with a photo of an older woman holding a cat. Apology notes were scattered about the studio and I was told that this was another rule and tradition for DJs who accidentally swear on the air or play songs with dirty words.
A few lined “Matilda” notebooks were on the counter and were filled with messages and artwork scribbled by DJs during their shows. Similar to DJ notebooks that I’ve seen at other college radio stations, Raines told me that they are a long-time WZLY tradition that serves as a “journal…within the studio…for DJs,” in which they “write little sign-offs” and “write about their days” and “draw little pictures.”
100+ Members and More than 80 shows on WZLY in Fall 2025
This semester there are around 80 programs on the WZLY schedule, with shows running from around 8am until midnight. When there isn’t a live DJ or host an automated mix of music (new each month and called heavy rotation), curated by the WZLY music department, plays. The station is led by students on its E-board, managing a variety of committees that include campus events, music directory, tech, business, outreach, etc.
With around 100 active members, WZLY’s shows are produced and hosted by students, but anyone can listen online, which is important because the FM range is limited. Raines said that parents and friends from home tend to listen. While writing this piece I tuned in to a show during which a DJ and sibling joked about their parents being the only listeners.
Raines mentioned that some DJs are expressing interest in playing CDs and vinyl records, although while we were in the on-air studio a digital mix of music was playing and the turntables were not in working order. In describing the October 2025 mix curated by the music directory committee, Raines characterized it as “very autumnal.” The training studio had recently been refreshed with some new microphones and other audio equipment. Turntables looked to be in working order and there were even cassettes in that room. Raines speculated that the music directory group may be working to activate that space for special live music programming in addition to the studio’s use during intern training.
As I was about to depart, interns began trickling in for a session in the studio with intern coordinator Maddie Hansen. Hansen mentioned that as a senior she was already starting to feel nostalgic about her time at the station, as she had been participating since her first semester in college. Raines is a junior and joined WZLY last year. Reflecting on her time at the station she told me, “I love the community of WZLY! I have a show with one of my wonderful friends (Stephanie), and together we have Sunday ‘Mornings’ with DJ Ama and DJ B, and it is a great way to block out the time to hang out.”
Thanks to WZLY + Full List of Station Tours
Thanks to WZLY for the wonderful tour! It was such a treat to visit a college radio station that not only has so much history, but that also actively works to save materials related to their history. This is my 180th radio station tour report and my 122nd college radio station tour. You can view the entire collection of my radio station visits in numerical order or by station type in our archives.
