WESU

WESU is a college/community radio station in the United States, founded in 1939 as an unofficial AM carrier current station in the basement of Clark Hall. Upon gaining recognition, the station operated under the callsign WES. In the 1950s, the call-sign became WESU. Then in the 1960s it operated an FM station at 88.1 MHz, eventually abandoning the AM station. Between 1967 and 1990, WESU was owned and operated by an independent student group, the now-defunct Wesleyan Broadcast Association, Inc. It is owned by trustees of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, and operated by students and community volunteers. In 1999, the station moved offices and studios from the basement of Clark Hall to its current location next the Wesleyan Argus on 45 Broad Street. WESU operates 24 hours a day. Until 2004, WESU's format had been entirely freeform, with DJs and student staff having complete freedom to program what they will. The university had announced its intent to seek an affiliation with National Public Radio, and to drastically change the station's format. Douglas Bennet, then President of the University, was a former president of NPR.