College Radio Day 2011

 Oct. 11, 2011 marked the first annual College Radio Day. Muskingum University was one of more than 350 college and high school radio stations across North America to participate in the event. College Radio Day was developed as a way to spread appreciation for those college radio stations that are still on the air and contributing to what is played on main-stream, top 40 stations.

  Muskingum University's radio station, WMCO 90.7, hosted a number of special programs as well as continuing on with their everyday programming with live DJs as a way to recognize the day.

  WMCO's day began with its normal 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. show with Scott Chappuis and Kara Niswonger, and then moved to a re-airing of the "Magenta Mandate," a radio drama produced during Alumni Weekend. From 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. WMCO hosted a remote broadcast from the Quad to get student's and faculty's thoughts on why they love college radio. Following the remote broadcast, WMCO aired a College Radio Day specific show that highlighted some of the stations favorite artists, produced by Jonathan "Duke" Williams, Sara Shallcross, and John Clevinger. After this show and for the remainder of the day, WMCO carried on with their regularly scheduled shows with live DJs.

  Assistant Professor of Communication and WMCO Station Manager Lisa Marshall explained why College Radio Day was important to Muskingum.

  "For Muskingum, it's a thank you to President Steele, our board of trustees, Hal Burlingame, our student staff, faculty who help us out, and most importantly, our listeners," said Marshall.

  As well as showing appreciation to the people involved in making college radio a success, College Radio Day is also important to the artists who are played on these stations, as WMCO Program Director Jonathan "Duke" Williams pointed out.

  "College radio is very important because there are a lot of artists out there, lot of bands, that don't get the attention they deserve because they can't break into Top 40 radio or main-stream radio stations and really can't get their message out there," said Williams. "College radio, that's what we focus on. We focus on those break-out bands that really need the attention."

  The common theme today, on the Quad and in the WMCO station, was centered on finding out why people love college radio and College Radio Day.

  "We have lots of fun," said WMCO Underwriting Director Katie Simms. "We get to talk about different things. It's our own show; we get to be our own person. And we talk about the Top 10s of the week and we get to bring in different music and get new artists out there instead of the ones that everyone already listens to.

  College radio isn't all about the music and the artists in the station. For some, it's about the opportunities it provides and the doors that it opens.

  "I love college radio because it introduced me to an entire industry that, when I first became a student at Muskingum, I didn't really feel like I'd be interested in," said Williams. "Then I started, just as a hobby, and now I really am considering a career in this type of area – with broadcasting."

  For Marshall, College Radio Day was all about the excitement.

  "My favorite thing about College Radio Day is, I think, the excitement the students showed," said Marshall. "We got a lot of people on the Quad giving us nice props for being there and getting excited and just thanking us for what we do."

  The biggest thanks of the day was for the listeners and supporters of WMCO.

  "It was just a day to celebrate WMCO, and again, thank our listeners and thank people who just listen to us and support us here on campus," said Marshall.