WESU Radio Celebrates 75th Anniversary Nov. 2

Olivia DrakeOctober 29, 20143min
The exhibit “WESU: Celebrating 75 Years of Community Radio,” is on display in Olin Library and is part of WESU's 75th anniversary celebration.
The exhibit “WESU: Celebrating 75 Years of Community Radio,” is on display in Olin Library and is part of WESU's 75th anniversary celebration.
The exhibit “WESU: Celebrating 75 Years of Community Radio,” is on display in Olin Library and is part of WESU’s 75th anniversary celebration.

WESU Radio will host an event to commemorate the non-commercial radio station’s 75th anniversary on Nov. 2. Middletown Mayor Daniel Drew, among other dignitaries, will be in attendance to honor the station’s 75-year legacy of community service and acknowledge the radio station’s staff of more than 150 student and community volunteers.

The event begins at 5:30 p.m. in Olin Library and is open to the public. There, attendees can view an exhibition titled “WESU: Celebrating 75 Years of Community Radio,” which offers an anecdotal look at one of the oldest college radio stations in the United States using photographs, documents, news clippings and artifacts. Wesleyan University Archivist Leith Johnson curated the show.

On Nov. 3, WESU will be presented with a proclamation from the City of Middletown.

Established in 1939 and currently celebrating its’ 75th anniversary, WESU is one of the oldest non-commercial radio stations in the United States. By day, Monday through Friday, WESU offers a diverse mix of news and public affairs from NPR, Pacifica, and independent and local media sources. Week nights and weekends WESU student and community volunteer broadcasters provide a freeform mix of creative music programming featuring music not readily available elsewhere on the radio.

The station currently broadcasts at the frequency of 88.1 FM from its 6,000-watt transmitter located atop Exley Science Center with a potential to reach over one million listeners throughout Connecticut and Massachusetts. WESU also streams audio, online through the website www.wesufm.org.