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No restrictions. Copyright for Official University records is held by Wesleyan University; all
other copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their
descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law. [Identification of item], WESU Records, Special Collections and Archives,
Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, USA. Given by Elizabeth Wolfe (Class of 2006) in 2004; Evan Simko-Bednarski (Class of
2007) in October 2005; and Rory Bradley (Class of 2007) in October 2005. Additional materials given by Aliza Simons (Class of 2009), May 2009 (accession number 2009-26) and July 2009 (accession number 2009-30). Processed by Evan Simko-Bednarski, March 2006 Encoded by Valerie Gillispie, March 2006 Finding aid updated by Valerie Gillispie, June 2009 What would come to be called WESU began in 1939 when two students living in Clark
Hall connected a transmitter to a phonograph and began broadcasting short
transmissions down their hall. As time progressed, the pair extended their broadcast
range by illicitly attaching their transmitter to the network of water pipes beneath
Wesleyan, slowly expanding until most of the campus had become an antenna. From
these mischievous beginnings, the station quickly became a legitimate campus
fixture, broadcasting throughout the Middletown area in the early 1940's on an AM
signal under the call letters "WES". In 1950, updated Federal Communications
Commission law granted the station its four-letter moniker "WESU." In 1967, WESU
underwent two crucial changes-the station switched over to FM broadcasting, and its
broadcasting license was transferred to the Wesleyan Broadcast Association, a
non-profit corporation founded by the WESU Board of Directors as an entity
independent from Wesleyan University. The years that followed saw an increase in
non-Wesleyan involvement in the station, as members of the surrounding community
came to serve as DJs and, by the mid 1990's, hold positions on the Board of
Directors. In 1980, WESU precipitated a nation-wide college boycott of Arista
Records regarding what the WESU board saw to be the unfair treatment of college
radio stations. In 1990, however, the Wesleyan Broadcast Association forfeited its
incorporated status. In 2003, Wesleyan University entered into negotiations to
acquire the license back from WESU, and it succeeded. The years that followed saw
the University's addition of NPR programming to the WESU broadcast day, and the
University's reconfiguration of the WESU Board, removing non-Wesleyan community
members from voting positions. The WESU Collection contains documents, correspondence, and notes related to the
operations of the station from 1943 to 2000. Series 1, WESU board minutes, contains the minutes of the WESU Board of Directors
from April 1959-January 2000. There is also a significant amount of material from
and pertaining to the 1967 incorporation of the Wesleyan Broadcast Association. Series 2, Correspondence, Memos, and Clippings, primarily contains undated
correspondence and memoranda. Series 3, Subject Files, consists of policies, printed material, programming
information, and descriptions of WESU's history. Series 4, Financial, consists largely of receipts, invoices, bills and other
miscellaneous material pertaining to the stations operating costs, as well as budget
requests, bank statements and checks. Series 5, Rock Biographical and Playlists, contains promotional material from bands
and record labels, as well as several on-air playlists. Series 6, Addition of May 2009. These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online
catalogs. Other sources of information on WESU include the Vertical (Subject) Files, Special
Collections & Archives;
Wesleyan University
Middletown, CT, USA
There are no minutes from Fall 1993 to Spring 1994 or from Fall 1999 to Spring 2001.
Missing Spring 1979.