91.7 WPCR

In a small room near the Mail Center in the HUB sits a collection of the most CDs I’ve ever seen in one place. That room is also home to 91.7 WPCR, Plymouth State University’s campus radio station. The station has held their meetings in Memorial Hall almost every year since its inception. President Tyler Powers said that the radio station has a lot of history: “we found a flyer from the 80s, I think, that said we’ve met in this room [Memorial 103] since the 80s...and I talked to an older guy who said he was there when they put the first antenna up.”

Paul Rogalus is the faculty advisor for WPCR and also had some insight to offer about the history of the radio station. “We had our own building at one point, and then they bulldozed it,” he said. “We shared it with the ministry but 90% of the whole building was the radio station. Then they threw us out of there and we had to get rid of 40,000 albums! We basically had to give them away. I think this was in ‘92 or ‘93.”

Powers also wants people to know that becoming part of the radio station is easier than most people think. “It’s easy to learn, really fun, and you definitely find your voice after two or three shows. After that, it’s like second nature, just doing a show...Paul [Rogalus] has a Practicum in Production class so you can actually get credit to do stuff for the radio station.” Rogalus says that experience at WPCR is a good lead-in to internships and career opportunities and that many students have used the radio station as a direct path into a career they are passionate about.

What’s in store for the future of WPCR? Powers was excited to bring back the streaming service that the station has had in the past: “Our streaming went away abruptly because the website we used to use shut down, and now we’re bringing it back,” Powers said. “The details of it are still a little foggy, but we do have sort of a plan with Brian Dye to do that.” In addition to streaming, the website will be making a comeback with a new design that’s integrated into the PSU website experience: “We’re also bringing our website back very soon as soon as we pick a new template for it, and we’re going to be connected to the Plymouth website,” Powers said. The new website and streaming service will be more streamlined in the user experience of the website, making it more accessible to students who want to listen off-campus and on their devices.