Happy World College Radio Day! October 6, 2023 marks the 13th annual College Radio Day. As part of the festivities at Radio Survivor, we did a special episode of the podcast/radio show: College Radio’s Hidden Early History. On the show, I talk about the role that radio clubs played in germinating some of the first student-run college radio stations. One such club, at my alma mater Haverford College, launched broadcast AM radio station WABQ in 1923. On October 9, 1923, a couple of months before WABQ hit the airwaves, a headline in Haverford’s student newspaper announced, “Broadcasting Station Nears Completion.” Clearly the radio club had high aspirations, with the article pointing out that, “Members of the club feel confident that Haverford will be very definitely on the Radio Map when the station opens up.” As one of the first student-led radio stations, WABQ deserves a place in radio history, even though its time on the radio dial was brief.
After a few years, Haverford College’s WABQ license was sold (by the students in the club), and broadcasting did not return to campus until carrier current stations (WHAV, later renamed WHRC) were built in the early 1940s. These limited broadcasts could only be heard in the dorms on AM radios or over speakers in the dining center at Haverford College (and later Bryn Mawr College too). As a carrier current station, WHRC persisted for around 50 years, until various technological issues caused it to morph into an internet radio station. WHRC died and was reborn several times; most recently returning in fall, 2022. This week, I posted an article about the folks who brought radio back to Haverford College, amid the myriad challenges of the pandemic. As with student leaders of the past, the current managers of WHRC are a huge source of inspiration to me. College radio is such a special place and it warms my heart that new generations of students continue to build radio stations and form new radio communities.
Photo credit: J. Waits photo of Haverford News article from October 9, 1923. Thanks to Haverford College’s Special Collections for preserving student newspapers, including this issue.
