This year, College Radio Day began for me in the best possible way, with a visit to Middlebury College’s student-run radio station WRMC 91.1 FM in Middlebury, Vermont. From the second that I walked into the station, on the upper floor of the Proctor Dining Hall, I was charmed by the colorful space. Lavender and […]
As I was plotting out my fall vacation to New England, I imagined chilly days, falling leaves and colorful foliage. While hot weather was the norm for much of the trip, the first bit of crispness was in the air for my twilight visit to B-Rad, the student-run college radio station at Bennington College in […]
One of my favorite things about tuning in to terrestrial radio is hearing unlikely juxtapositions as stations fade in and out of each other. With religious radio covering much of the left side of the dial in some communities, there are often unintentionally bizarre mash-ups of faith-based messages with the sometimes edgier music and lyrics […]
In 2009, a University of Denver Magazine profile of the school’s student radio station bore the headline, “The nine lives of DU radio.” It’s a fitting description for the ebb and flow of radio activity on the Colorado campus, where there have been at least 7 distinct stations since the 1940s. The current college radio […]
A sentence on the KRCX website, “Regis University is home to Denver’s oldest college radio station,” piqued my interest and led to a journey not only through the radio station, but down many archival rabbit holes in search of more information. The story goes that the station began as a “dorm room shortwave broadcast,” but […]
One of the first things that I noticed when I arrived at WMPG-FM in Portland, Maine was a familiar-looking three-dimensional grey cardboard sign perched in the lobby window. Hidden behind a chair and near stacks of bumper stickers, the sign is on my hypothetical radio station tour bingo card. Sent by musician Leo Blais many […]
“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 […]
It was a surreal experience to return to one of my college radio alma maters, WBGU 88.1 FM at Bowling Green State University (BGSU), and encounter an unrecognizable radio station and campus. Granted it had been nearly 30 years since I’d left northwest Ohio, but I was still surprised by just how much can change. […]
One version of my radio nerd dream vacation includes a cross-country road trip, with numerous stops at college radio stations along the way. With family in tow, it’s a tough sell; however over the years I’ve been able to convince them to indulge me in my obsessive quest to tick off more spots on my […]
On a Sunday morning, when most college students were likely asleep, KUCR Music Director Diya Anantharaman cheerfully greeted me at University of California, Riverside’s college radio station. Off-the-beaten path, KUCR 88.3 FM occupies a couple of low-slung aging buildings that are adjacent to residence halls and apartments near the northern edge of campus. Headquarters for […]
