RPI students have a fascination with technology and electronics. This is not a new trend; Rensselaer students have always sought out unique opportunities and challenges with technology. As such, it is clear why students have always shown an interest in utilizing coils of copper wire, capacitors, and antennas to send and receive the wireless telegraphy signals that are collectively referred to as radio. In the 1930s and 1940s Rensselaer had a number of active student radio organizations which reflected this growing interest on campus. With the debut of FM radio in the 1950s, 91.5 WRPI-FM was licensed to the Institute and the student radio organization “Radio Rensselaer” was given the privilege of operating our 10,000 watt class B1 non-commercial radio station.
Next year, WRPI will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its first transmission on 91.5 FM. This will represent 50 years of the students’ hard work and dedication to providing high quality programming and entertainment to the Capital District and beyond. Throughout the station’s history, members of the wider community have provided assistance and countless hours of their time to the students at WRPI. These community members have been integral to the development of the station, and there is no question that the legacy they have left has enabled our students to continue operating the station with such success. However, the spirit of cooperation and teaching so valued in the relationship between students and community members has unfortunately derailed. We, as a student body, must now stand up with our peers who have been facing challenges and attacks by certain individuals that seek to abuse the open relationships that we encourage between the students and the community.
Because WRPI aims to broadcast 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, the station has traditionally invited community members of WRPI to host shows over the students’ airwaves. Community members typically fill spots undesirable for students—those such as early mornings, during classes, and most notably during breaks when few students are on campus. For decades, this tradition has provided value to the station and a service to the community. But in the mid-’90s this tradition was discovered and infected by a parasitic concept of “indie” or “community grassroots” radio currently espoused by the Hudson Mohawk Independent Media Center. Individuals who promote this type of radio slowly gained influence and trust in the station, and eventually were able to begin hosting shows and programming that actively promote radical, antiwar, and activist programming. It should be no secret to anyone that neither Rensselaer nor the Union will fund organizations that promote specific beliefs or creeds. Because of the crafty nature of this organization, however, the programming at WRPI leaned further and further towards political action and commentary—content and programming that is not engaging or interesting to many of the students at RPI today. As a result, the student audience of WRPI has eroded to the point that virtually no students at RPI listen to the station which they fund.
In the past year, the student leaders in WRPI have recognized these problems and have begun to realign the station’s policies and programming with the expectations of the Institute and the student body. With every decision and step forward, however, they have faced intense ridicule and intimidation by a few members of the community who worked hard to infiltrate our station and now face the possibility of losing their voice and influence. For the last year, Institute officials and representatives of the Union have been closely following the strife within WRPI. In short, no students should face the stress and hardships that these students have endured as they explore their interests in radio. While the Institute and Union provided advice and support to the students of WRPI as they addressed these issues, we refuse to allow this insanity to progress any further.
Because Metroland has virtually no audience on our campus, I highly doubt that you are aware of the featured article that was printed in the newsweekly last Thursday, November 2. The article began by correctly describing WRPI as a student-led station but quickly degraded into a festival of slander and moaning by individuals from the community who lost the privilege to host a show. At the lowest point, the article not only referred to the student leaders of WRPI as “Brownshirts,” but made sure the reference to the Nazi censoring organization was clear. This is wholly inappropriate, yet it unfortunately reflects the sentiments of some community members inside the organization. There is now no question about the future of WRPI and the direction it must take. It is time to cast off these leeches and realign our radio station with the interests of RPI students.
We, the Executive Board of the Union, have taken actions towards this goal and will continue to do everything necessary to ensure our students receive the support they need.
