Radio has a venerable history at Vassar College with the earliest shows airing in 1938. From those earliest broadcasts, the college has sought eclectic and informative programming pertinent to the community.
In the early 1970’s, WVKR Vassar College Radio was born. Starting as an AM current carrier station, WVKR broadcast from Main Building up to twenty-one hours per day via a campus-only closed circuit. With the emergence of broad popularity for FM broadcasting, Vassar petitioned for and was granted an FCC license to switch to FM and broadcast on 91.3 MHz over an 18 mile radius via a 10 watt transmitter atop Main Building. The station strove to broadcast up to twenty hours per day during the academic year.
Over the years, year-round programming, 24-hour programming, and a strong signal have been incorporated. Since 1994, WVKR has been broadcasting at 3400 watts and the transmitter sits on the west side of the Hudson River. In addition to Vassar students, DJs also come from the surrounding community. Although the station has undergone many changes the mission has stayed very much the same: “to promote music not heard elsewhere and to serve the community interest through eclectic radio programming”.
Via broadcast, WVKR has been heard in five states (NY, MA, CT, NJ, and PA). Via webcast, accessible from wvkr.org, listeners in Japan, Sweden, Brazil, and outposts unknown have tuned into the same shows you do on 91.3 MHz.