Live from the Henderson Campus Center, WARC, Allegheny College’s student-run radio station, has been a way students have created spaces to express themselves at the college since 1963.
Tech Director Reece Smith, ’24, said WARC was the first station in the area to receive the news of then-President John F. Kennedy’s assassination.
“Since then, a lot of those things have died back and we do all the shows live,” Smith said. “We really don’t do any news, besides individual DJs talking about news.”
Smith said he will be hosting a news talk show — with topics ranging from global issues to on-campus concerns — because he enjoys keeping up with it and informing the community. However, he stressed that shows do not have to be content-heavy and could simply be a space where a student can share the music they are listening to while doing their homework.
Smith said he is trying to incorporate programming from more clubs on campus and has reached out to organizations like The Campus newspaper and the Allegheny Student Government.
General Manager Meredith Kyser, ’24, said the show they are hosting will feature Allgheny students.
“I am doing a new show this year with my friends,” Kyser said. “Every week we are going to pull in a special guest that one of us picked out and the other two have no idea who it is. Then we are going to interview them (the guest) and talk about what they’re doing on campus.”
Kyser said the radio station immediately felt like a safe place for them when they initially joined their first year.
“We really support each other and whatever they do,” Kyser said. “We are always rooting each other on and listening in while saying ‘great show,’ and just hyping each other up. We don’t really know how many people listen to our show so it is nice to get feedback and know we are doing a good job.”
While the radio station has a huge influence on students while they are in school, it has also had a lasting impact on alumni.
Bryanna Milbert, ’23, said being on the radio gave her skills she can use in her professional life that she may not have honed otherwise.
“I absolutely hated public speaking when I came into college and the radio essentially gave me more of an outlet to be able to publicly speak about things that are of interest other than my art,” Milbert said. “When I met a lot of new students and made new friends on campus I was nervous to talk about my interests so I would plug my show and they would enjoy it so much.”
Milbert’s shows frequently connected music to different themes like cartoons and movies she was interested in at the time.
“A show I had was about ‘Phineas and Ferb’ — so I played ‘Phineas and Ferb’ music,” Milbert said. “This past show that I did, I essentially would choose an artist and would play their album or a discography from an artist and roll with it.”
Music Director Emmalee Brammer, ’24, described the connection the radio station has beyond the college and with the Meadville community.
“I think we probably have more listeners in the Meadville area than we do on the college campus,” Brammer said. “I know that there is a woman who works at the post office and lives in Meadville, and she always likes to tell me how her husband is a huge fan of WARC, and he tunes in as often as he can. I would like to think that we always provide entertainment to the Meadville area.”
Brammer encourages students to give being a part of the radio station a try even if they do not end up sticking with it.
“I know it can be really intimidating for some people — like the thought of having to talk on the radio and just the idea of having to handle the equipment,” Brammer said. “But it is not nearly as scary and difficult as it seems. Honestly, people don’t even have to talk if they don’t want to.”
The radio station will begin airing its first shows beginning Sunday, Nov. 17.
