Dear Doug,
I was elected station manager of WESU Middletown in May 2002, at the end of my sophomore year. The previous station manager, Ryan Malloy, had been trying for about a year to work with a University-assigned lawyer to figure out what WESU could do about renewing its FCC license. Ryan apparently had a difficult time contacting the lawyer on a regular basis, because, doubtless he had a great deal of other important work to do for the University. When I came into the office, nothing had been done about renewing the license or about re-incorporating the Wesleyan Broadcast Association, the nominal holders of the license.
I never met with you in my capacity as station manager of WESU, but I did meet with Marsha Bromberg, Michael Whaley, and other University administrators about the transfer of the FCC license, which took place under my management. I and other members of WESU’s elected board of directors were repeatedly assured by all of these officials that transferring the FCC license would not change the format or programming of WESU. The DJs and board members of WESU were and continue to be deeply committed to 1) the integration of students and community volunteers on the air and on the board of directors and 2) a completely free format with programming decisions made by students and community volunteers. If we had not been assured of the continuity of these traditions, we would have sought another way to renew the license.
I am no lawyer, but I believe that it would be a breach of verbal contract, not to mention an ill-conceived idea, to turn over WESU programming decisions or any of its air time to NPR. Wesleyan University only owns the license today because it agreed not to change the basic structure of the station. As I see it, a totally free outlet like WESU is an enormously attractive asset. Even though its programming is not as professional as NPR and it has few viable talk-radio programs, it draws the interest of potential applicants to the school. It played an important role in my undergraduate experience and in the experiences of countless others like me, and I anticipate that we would be less likely to contribute to dear old Wesleyan if the managers of the University decided to do away with the unique treasure that we entrusted to them.
I agree with you that talk radio and political programs addressing the concerns of Wesleyan students, faculty and staff as well as the greater Middletown community would be a good thing. Perhaps NPR is not the best way to bring this kind of programming to the airwaves. Perhaps the University should consider adding a professor or instructor who could facilitate a radio journalism course that would produce a high-quality, informative program a few times a week to meet that need. I would have loved to have had the chance to integrate my interest in community radio with a strenuous academic course. You might be able to talk to professor Ron Kuivila of the music department about starting up such a progra—he already did similar work with an experimental music course that produced original hour-long programs for the station.
Respectfully,
Mark Hatch-Miller
Brooklyn, NY
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