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In this modern era where music is just another type of “content” — millions of hours of it available at our fingertips, commodified and ready to be piped into our brains at any moment through sleek earbuds, oversized hipster headphones, or good old-fashioned speakers — you may wonder: What draws Gen Z students to college radio?

The truth is, the appeal of the airwaves hasn’t changed that much since 91����’s own WHRW sparked to life 60 years ago, transmitting a meager 10 watts of free-format programming at 90.5 FM. Even in 2026, life at the left of the dial offers opportunities for community, camaraderie, and creativity like no other on campus.

“The intention has always been the same, to be some sort of alternative media,” says Mari McLaughlin ’26, the station’s 2025–26 general manager. “When college radio was starting to get popular, it was about going against the grain. Now, it’s going against consumerism, and to make sure that the human touch stays in art. Young people want to create their own culture and space, and WHRW is a good avenue to do that.”

Today, a 2,000-watt transmitter atop the Glenn G. Bartle Library Tower broadcasts 24 hours a day throughout Broome County, and the rest of the world can dial up the eclectic mix of music and public affairs programming online.

“Radio culture bridges the gap between people,” McLaughlin says. “It’s not even necessarily about music. It’s about wanting to connect, not only with the people around you but also to the people listening to the station, who you’re talking to in this very direct way.”

‘I got adopted’

Although students run WHRW and put fellow students first in all decision-making, the station is perhaps unique among campus groups for also including a sizable cadre of community members. Longtime DJs like Uncle Pete (punk and garage rock), Ferdinand Montalvo (Latin jazz), Scotty K (disco and R&B), King Bee (blues), and Doc Sonic (alternative rock and pop) share their tunes with listeners alongside their younger colleagues.

WHRW’s longest-serving DJ is Ron Drumm, who got involved as a junior while taking classes during the summer of 1971. Two dormmates saw his record collection and how he invited random people into his room to hear the latest albums, so they convinced him to get on the air with them — and he fell in love with it.

“When the fall came, everybody at WHRW came back, and I got adopted,” he says. “They didn’t have anybody who was the official record librarian, so I said, ‘Hey, I can do that.’ I just picked up that position because nobody else wanted to do it.”

Drumm had to drop out a semester short of earning his bachelor’s degree (“I basically ran out of money,” he confesses), but he kept up his ties to the University. He worked with Facilities Management for more than 50 years — and he continued to manage WHRW’s impressive record library. In the early 2000s, he even donated about 5,000 albums to the station as he trimmed down his own vinyl collection.

Through his curation and mentorship, Drumm has introduced thousands of students to music they wouldn’t have heard otherwise. He still creates monthly music mixes that he burns to CDs and mails out to station alumni.

“I was a shy guy in high school, and I never had many relationships or a lot of close friends,” he says. “WHRW helped me to become more comfortable with myself, and it gave me a reason to share things I thought were worth sharing with other people.”

‘I really learned a lot’

WHRW’s official first broadcast was at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 4, 1966 — but 60th anniversary celebrations will happen as part of this year’s Homecoming from Oct. 2–4. McLaughlin is graduating in May, but will stay in 91���� to help plan the festivities with the Alumni Association, along with station alums Eric Lobenfeld ’71 and Gail Wein ’82.

Lobenfeld grew up in the 1960s loving the music of the British Invasion and listening to legendary New York City DJ Murray the K, even meeting up with him to share British releases that weren’t officially out in the U.S. yet. At WHRW, he continued playing those U.K. favorites on a show he called Radio London.

The station evolved quickly in those first few years, from transmitting a lot of “beautiful music” (easy-listening instrumental versions of popular tunes) just 40 hours a week to becoming an affiliate of National Public Radio and Pacifica Radio with a full schedule of classical, jazz, and rock shows. News programming featured student reporters who covered the political and social upheavals of the late ’60s and early ’70s.

“I really learned a lot at the station,” says Lobenfeld, who became general manager in his senior year. “Not so much about music, because I was always involved with music, but being in an organization leading people, trying to manage budgets, all that kind of stuff, which was helpful to me in my career.”

After graduation, Lobenfeld moved back to New York City and got a job as a radio producer — but he didn’t like it and ended up going to law school, becoming a partner in several international law firms handling high-profile copyright cases.

Other WHRW alums stayed in broadcasting, though, including Wein. She’s worked as a radio host and producer for NPR and a classical music critic for The Washington Post. Wein is now the president of NYC-based Classical Music Communications, which provides marketing services for artists and projects.

While at 91����, Wein served as the station’s classical director, and she loved exploring the record library: “I gained an appreciation for contemporary classical music and all sorts of music that I wouldn’t know otherwise. Now I work with living composers, so those experiences carried over for decades.”

Like all WHRW alums — no matter their ultimate profession or vocation after 91���� — Wein believes any time on the air was special.

“Just being in that station set me on fire all the time, and I never stopped thinking about it,” she says. “When I graduated and I needed a job in the real world, I kept thinking, ‘I need to be in radio, I need to be in radio.’”