Today, the station is managed and operated by James Madison University and almost exclusively plays automated classical music. But for years it was a community fixture that broadcast chapel services, “educational programming” and a variety of music, all facilitated by student-announcers and engineers.

Once reviled, radio becomes a ‘missionary project’

It’s not clear at what point Mennonite attitudes toward radio broadcasting began to change, but in 1950, a Mennonite men’s quartet named The Crusaders began to sing live on Saturday mornings for 15 minutes on a local Harrisonburg station, WSVA. Within two years, the program expanded as The Mennonite Hour, which was considered “a missionary project of the church.” By the end of 1953, the program was broadcast on 35 stations and EMC offered up space for recording.

In 1954, WEMC was founded with money from the class of 1954 and The Mennonite Hour became Mennonite Broadcasting Incorporated – which is now known as Mennonite Media.

By the late 1950s, WEMC was running up to 70 weekly programs such as “Mennonite Hour Chorus,” “Titus Bender’s ‘Point for Today,’” and “Children’s Story Time” from the balcony of the chapel. The station used a ten-watt transmitter, which had “a signal that barely got off campus on a windy day,” according to alumnus Jim Bishop who worked at the station both as a student and later as EMC staff.

WEMC broadcast daily Bible readings (Alexander Scourby recorded on vinyl, Bishop remembers), regular chapel services, community and public service announcements, and coverage of home women’s and men’s basketball games. Bishop hosted a weekly campus activities report, as well as “Focal Point,” a public affairs program.

“I always wished there were more student-produced programs,” Bishop said. “Someone would get one rolling and then it would end when the student graduated or lost interest.”

Alum Dwight Wyse has similar memories of programming. “I remember one program that I did for a number of years called ‘Folk Music Around the World,’” he said. “That was on Saturday nights. I got married between my junior and senior year and my wife and I would go up to run that program together. We played anything from The Singing Nuns to Simon and Garfunkel.”

One year during the biannual revival services hosted on campus, “the Holy Spirit seemed to be present,” remembered broadcaster Terry Cowan. Regular programming was dropped for the rest of the day, as students and faculty shared testimonies until the evening.

From Lehman to Astral Hall

In the early 1970s, WEMC, needing more space, moved up the hill into the recently renovated Astral Hall. The higher vantage point boosted the station’s signal beyond the campus borders and into the greater Harrisonburg area.

Cowan served as WEMC’s station manager for a number of years and was instrumental in facilitating the move. Cowan, like Wyse and Bishop, learned how to broadcast on the job, as there wasn’t any training available to the students who wanted to work in the station at that time.

“During my time at WEMC, my vision was to provide a window so that the community could see what was going on at the college,” he said. “Before the station existed, there were guys who strung telephone wires throughout the community to they could put speakers in people’s homes so the community could listen to chapel.”

Today, WEMC has a 2000-watt transmitter and is broadcast up and down the Shenandoah Valley. But in the 1960s and ‘70s, “we were limited in our power because of Sugar Grove observatory to the west,” said Wyse. “They tightly controlled how far you could send your signal.” (Sugar Grove Observatory is still part of a United States National Radio Quiet Zone, in which radio transmitters are strongly controlled so that scientific research and military intelligence work can be conducted.)

Wyse graduated in 1968, but was the play-by-play announcer for men’s basketball games for a decade. He said one particular game stands out. In 1971, in the old gym. At the time, JMU wasn’t the athletic powerhouse it is today; it was close game. In the last second, EMU (who had been behind) scored and won the game.

“I was speechless,” Wyse said.

Unable to let listeners know what had just happened, he looked for help from his fellow commentator. But his partner was gone. He had abandoned his post and was jumping around on the court in celebration.

Interest wanes

By the mid-1980s, WEMC was playing more and more contemporary Christian music and holding bi-yearly “WEMC Weekends” to raise financial support for the station. Student-announcers would volunteer for 30-hour-plus “marathon” fundraisers. Some years they met their goals, but increasingly they didn’t.

It’s not entirely clear why the station began struggle. Money certainly had something to do with it (pledges became harder to secure) but also student interest in running the station began to wane. In 2007, James Madison University took over the day-to-day running of WEMC, although EMU continues to own the station and license. Students are no longer involved. An EMU advisory board determines programming, which includes broadcasting Park View Mennonite Church’s service every Sunday following the hour and a half musical program “Mostly Mennonite, Mostly A Capella.”

“I think that the original purpose has been changed and I am sorry to see that,” said Cowan. “I think it would better serve the college’s interests if it was still operated as an arm of the college.”

Bishop, who ran a show right up until the JMU take over of the station, agrees. Many alums who were heavily involved with the station over the years view the transition as a tragedy.

But for now the arrangement is working. Since the station moved to mostly classical music, listenership has doubled and the station remains alive. (Financial difficulties were such that by the mid-2000s some suggested the station should close entirely.) And, should the desire and drive emerge in a new generation of students, the station is still there, waiting for new voices to revive the rich tradition.

Editor’s note: While freelancing for EMU marketing and communications, also reported for WMRA in Harrisonburg. She is now Appalachia Health News Coordinator at West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

This is the third article in an occasional series leading up to ��ݮ����’s in 2016-2017. Other articles have featured Park Woods Cabin and .

New programming will include weeknight showcases of live recordings by well-known orchestras, including ones in Chicago, Pittsburgh and New York. On Saturday afternoons, the station will also air a classical music program, “,” hosted in both English and Spanish and focusing on Latin American composers. The full new schedule is available .

Classical music during the weeknights will replace the evening jazz shows on WEMC. With the changes, the station will also drop its news programs from and the (these can still be accessed via the Internet).

Station manager Al Bartholet said listener surveys showed that classical music was the overwhelming reason that people have been tuning in to the station. Adding more classical music programming will give WEMC’s audience more of the music it enjoys and help the station form a more coherent identity – an important part of keeping and growing a radio audience, he added.

WEMC will continue its Sunday morning broadcasts of services at , and will add a encore broadcast (Wednesdays at 8 p.m.) of “,” a 90-minute music show hosted by EMU professor emeritus John Horst.

“It is probably the most popular program on WEMC. It’s the ‘Car Talk’ of WEMC,” said program manager Matt Bingay. “If you’ve got a hit on your hands, get more mileage out of it. Repeat it. Give people another opportunity.”

Horst, who began recording episodes of his show more than a decade ago, said it was “nice to get the affirmation” about his show. He acknowledged that it’s getting harder to find new material – there are only so many Mennonite acappella recordings out there – but continues to follow up on suggestions from listeners and friends, and rummage at places like for rarities. He also often receives copies of new recordings of groups and Mennonite colleges and elsewhere, and plans to continue creating new episodes as often as he can.

Founded in 1955 as a gift from the class of 1954, WEMC is the oldest public radio station in Virginia. From its transmission tower on the crest of the hill west of EMU, WEMC’s signal can reach up to 88,000 people who live within a 25-mile radius of the university. By the end of the year, the station’s aging transmitter will be replaced with a new one to ensure more reliable service.

WEMC is also streamed online, and through a new smartphone or tablet . In 2007, James Madison University’s radio station and Harrisonburg’s National Public Radio affiliate, WMRA-90.7 FM, assumed management of WEMC, with the concurrence and ongoing input of EMU officials.

“We’re pleased with the ongoing partnership between EMU and JMU to manage public radio offerings for the region,” said , EMU director of and a member of the WEMC advisory group. “WEMC is a gem that we want to preserve. Changing technologies and limited resources made that unfeasible for EMU alone. With the stations’ financial stability and growing listenership through careful program planning, the future of Harrisonburg’s two public radio stations looks secure.”

Learn more about WEMC: emu.edu/wemc or listen online: wmra.org

“Allen was selected because of his years of experience in public radio programming, leadership and development,” said Dietrich Maune, search committee chair. “This, along with his collaborative approach to station management and community relationships made him the ideal candidate.”

Bartholet has worked in public radio since 1980, including as executive director and general manager of WKSU-FM at Kent State University from 1999-2012. In addition, he also served as development director for WKSU for 17 years.

During his time at WKSU, Bartholet expanded the station’s news coverage with the opening of bureaus in Cleveland, Akron and Canton; established Folk Alley, an internet folk music radio station with a large worldwide audience; and successfully completed capital and endowment campaigns that generated $6 million for WKSU.

“WMRA and WEMC have a wonderful opportunity to build on past successes and to take advantage of our country’s thirst for information as well as for music that is an oasis for listeners,” said Bartholet. “When it comes to new ways to serve our audiences, there appears to be no end in sight.”

WMRA and its network of stations serve 50,000 listeners in the Shenandoah Valley, Charlottesville, surrounding western Piedmont counties and the Farmville area. It is licensed to James Madison University. Flagship programs include: Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Fresh Air, Marketplace, Car Talk, A Prairie Home Companion, This American Life, Virginia Insight and Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me.

WEMC is the first public radio station in Virginia, on air since 1955. The station serves 8,000 listeners in the central Shenandoah Valley. It is licensed to ��ݮ���� and is operated by WMRA. It produces a weekly program focused on Mennonite musical heritage, Mostly Mennonite, Mostly Acapella.

And while he aims to stick around for a bit longer, he says next week will mark the beginning of the end.

On Jan. 7, the 65-year-old Belmont Estates resident will give his final broadcast of “Friday Night Jukebox” on WEMC’s 91.7FM, which he has hosted weekly for nearly 11 years.

Bishop began the music show in February 2000 at the suggestion of a former WEMC station manager. The 1950s music program, which runs between 8 and 9 p.m., features Bishop’s personal music library. He started collecting vinyl records in 1956, when he was in the sixth-grade.

“I’ve always loved radio and I always wanted to do something with it,” Bishop said. “I jumped on it because I really enjoyed it. It’s been my escape valve and I’m going to miss it.”

As public information officer for ��ݮ����, Bishop is often quoted in local media outlets about the school. He’s also the author of “Bishop’s Mantle,” a weekly column in the Daily News-Record, and the host of the Saturday morning EMU activities report on WBTX 1470AM.

Bishop has written the DN-R column for more than 20 years and has also contributed essays on health and wellness for Rockingham Memorial Hospital’s magazine, RMH HealthQuest, and a regular column for the Mennonite Weekly Review, a church newspaper in Kansas.

“These things are not things I was planning to do,” Bishop said. “They just happened and I enjoyed them very much.”

Bishop will retire from EMU on June 30, completing his 40th year at the school.

He hasn’t yet made any decisions about his column writing, but plans to continue freelance writing and traveling around the United States. He’s always wanted to see the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Graceland and the California coast.

“I never had a big audience but the people who listened were very loyal,” Bishop said. “I got requests from all over, including one I always got by mail. He also sent me a birthday and Christmas card every year.”

John L. Horst, Ted Grimsrud and Jim Bishop produce and host weekly programs on public radio station WEMC, 91.7 FM. They do it on a volunteer basis because they believe there are sufficient numbers of people hankering for their special brands of music.

And, while they acknowledge that their programs appeal to a “niche market,” they get enthusiastic listener response to shore up their conviction.

“Mostly Mennonite, Mostly A Cappella”

John Horst

Horst, a retired physics professor at EMU, hosts “Mostly Mennonite, Mostly A Cappella,” 8-9:30 a.m. Sundays. He plays blocks of, as the program suggests, mostly unaccompanied sacred choral music by local and nationally-known artists and groups.

Horst draws from years of musical experience, which included singing with the former “Mennonite Hour” radio broadcast’s chorus and male quartet in the mid-1950’s to the mid 1960’s as well as composing. Music from the 15 CD reissues of Classic Mennonite Hour singing often appears on the program.

Listeners on a given Sunday morning may hear groups ranging from local favorites such as the the Eastern Mennonite High School Touring Choir, the EMU Chamber Singers, the Shenandoah Valley Men’s Chorus, the Shenandoah Valley Children’s Choir and local composers Jim Clemens and Brad Lehman. A sampling of contrasting music outside the Mennonite tradition is usually part of each program.

“Friday Night Jukebox”

Jim Bishop

Bishop, who dubs himself a “hopeless nostalgic,” dishes up an hour of dusty discs from the decade of the 1950’s, the “Friday Night Jukebox,” 8-9 p.m. Fridays. The show features straight-ahead rock and roll, street-corner doo-wop harmonies, top ten instrumentals, off-the- wall novelties and sock hop specials with artists as diverse as Chuck Berry, Perry Como, the McQuire Sisters, Marty Robbins, Duane Eddy and Little Richard who shared the charts during this era.

The last 15 minutes of the show every week is devoted to unabashedly romantic tunes to watch the submarine races by. Requests and dedications are welcomed by calling 432-4211.

Bishop also teams up with WSVA radio personality Jim Britt for the monthly “Warped Records Show,” a two-hour montage of, as the title suggests, weird, wacky tunes that were once stables of radio but today don’t “fit” any station genre, 10 a.m.-noon, usually on Thursday. The show will feature warped holiday tunes twice in December – on the 8th and 23rd of the month.

“I’m not aware of any commercial radio station anywhere doing a program like this one,” Bishop notes. “Even WSVA doesn’t know what to make of the avid listener response.”

“Wavelength”

Ted Grimsrud

Rumor has it that if Ted Grimsrud’s CD collection was laid end-to-end, it would stretch from Harrisonburg to Hinton – maybe even Rawley Springs.

Dr. Grimsrud, professor of Bible and religion at EMU and – yes, he’s a rockin’ jock PhD – is host of “Wavelength,” 3-6 p.m. Saturdays. He modestly describes the program as “music from the intersection of country, folk, rock and roll, blues and gospel.”

On any given week, one might hear Waylon and Willie, Ray Charles, Bob Dylan and the Beatles followed by the Everly Brothers, Bruce Cockburn, Nina Simeone and Los Lobos – and it “seams” to work.

The Bible prof-music buff even manages a “Wavelength” blog at

About WEMC and WMRA

WEMC, Virginia’s oldest public radio station, founded in 1955, is owned by ��ݮ���� but now managed by the staff of James Madison University’s public radio station, WMRA. WEMC operates out of WMRA’s studios at Cantrell Ave. The station can be heard on-line at .

WMRA, 90.7 FM, which also manages WEMC, 91.7 FM on behalf of EMU, will offer programs beginning Jan. 14 to supplement National Public Radio’s flagship news shows, “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered,” extending the NPR-style focus on news, issues and culture through the middle of the day.

WMRA will broadcast an hour of BBC News at 9 a.m. after Morning Edition. That will be followed by NPR’s “On Point,” “Fresh Air” and “Talk of the Nation,” along with American Public Media’s “The Story.” NPR’s All Things Considered airs from 4-6:30 p.m.

“Many listeners have been asking us for NPR’s ‘Fresh Air,’ ‘Talk of the Nation’ and other information programs,” says station manager Tom DuVal. “As events and problems touch us more closely, the need to understand the world better has become more pressing in many people’s lives. We believe the time has come for WMRA to participate more actively in fulfilling that need.”

WMRA’s local call-in program, “Virginia Insight,” will air Mondays at 3 p.m., with intelligent conversations about state and regional issues that affect the citizens and families of Virginia. Virginia Insight’s host Tom Graham will also team up with reporter Martha Woodroof to increase Virginia news coverage during Morning Edition and All Things Considered.

Program schedules for both WMRA and WEMC are available online at or can be requested by calling the stations at 1-800-677-9672. WMRA and WEMC both stream their programs live on the Internet; WEMC can be accessed at .

Two public meetings are scheduled for Friday, Jan. 11, to give listeners a chance to meet with station management and learn more about the new programs – at 7:30-9 a.m. at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Performing Arts Center next to Charlottesville High School and 5-6:30 p.m. at the WMRA-WEMC studios at 983 Reservoir St. in Harrisonburg. Listeners may drop in any time during these hours.

If severe weather makes travel difficult, either or both meetings will be rescheduled. Listen to WMRA or WEMC starting at 5:30 a.m. Friday for cancellation notices or call 540-568-6221.

In the Charlottesville area, listeners may also call the King Performing Arts Center info line at 434-979-9532. If the Center closes, the meeting will be rescheduled.

Both stations will broadcast from WMRA’s studios on the corner of Reservoir Street and Cantrell Ave., with each station providing strong, distinctive programming to the greater Shenandoah Valley.

While the daily operations and financial needs of WEMC will be handled by WMRA management, EMU will retain the operating license for the station.

“This is a new venture for both JMU and EMU,” said EMU President Loren Swartzendruber. “Our two universities

“Drop the coin right into the slot . . . You gotta hear somethin’ that’s really hot . . .”

So declared Chuck Berry, makin’ merry in 1957’s “School Days.”

For six years now, a devotee of the pioneer rock and roll artist has been doing just that – plunking buffalo nickels into the colorful Wurlitzer and dishing up platters from that ebullient era on a weekly basis.

The first Friday night in February, 2000 host debuted the “Friday Night Jukebox” on WEMC-FM, the public radio voice of ��ݮ����.

The coins apparently didn’t get stuck or run out, as the show seemed to strike a responsive chord with area listeners who thought they’d never again hear songs that they grew up with from that time period, even on area commercial oldies stations.

The big difference – most of the songs are now played off compact disc, although Bishop does revert on occasion to a trusty, dusty rusty turntable for that rare tune still not available in that format.

On the “Jukebox” sixth anniversary show, 9 p.m. Feb. 3, Bishop will feature exclusively the creme de la creme, the No. 1 chartbuster hits of the 1950’s, including the biggest-selling song of each year from 1955 to 1960.

Ordinarily, the program tends to focus more on “songs that charted and received airplay for awhile, but didn’t crack the Top 10,” Bishop said. The show tries to include instrumentals, novelty tunes and one-hit-wonder artists every week, he noted.

The following week, 9 p.m. Feb. 10, the “Friday Night Jukebox” will feature sentimental, unabashedly romantic selections from the 1950’s on a “Pre-Valentine’s Music Special.”

Listener requests and dedications are welcomed by calling 432-4211 by Wednesday of the week.

, is the oldest non-commercial station in Virginia and now broadcasts 24 hours a day.

The new year brings a number of programming changes to , the radio voice of ��ݮ����, including broadcasting 24 hours a day.

The overnight programming will initially be the British Broadcasting Corporation

Paul R. Yoder, Sr., a long-time advocate for ��ݮ����, died Tuesday, Nov. 29, at Rockingham Memorial Hospital in Harrisonburg. He was 89.

A native of Elverson, Pa., Yoder, was a farmer 15 years before entering the ministry. He was pastor of Huber Mennonite Church, New Carlisle, Ohio, and Bay Shore Mennonite Church, Sarasota, Fla. He was also interim pastor two years of Ridgeway Mennonite Church, Harrisonburg.

Yoder was associate in at EMU, 1986-1998, and served on the steering committee of the , an EMU athletic support group, at the time of his death.

"Paul had a remarkable passion for ��ݮ���� and a love for youth that grew out of his children’s educational experience at EMU. said , executive director of and director of church relations at EMU. "Paul was an effective representative of the university at Mennonite conference annual assemblies, as a fundraiser to states west of the Mississippi, WEMC radio in the local community and as a long-term volunteer to Loyal Royals."

On Aug. 19, 1939, he married the former Grace Wingard, who survives.

Also surviving are four sons – Paul R. Yoder, Jr., a member of the EMU board of trustees; N. Wayne Yoder, , professor of at EMU; and Larry E. Yoder; their spouses, 10 grandchildren, four step-grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Yoder was the last surviving member of his immediate family.

A memorial service was held Dec. 3 at Harrisonburg Mennonite Church, where Yoder was a member.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Paul R. and Grace Yoder Endowment Fund , Harrisonburg, VA 22802.

Do you hear what I hear?

Sounds of the holiday season will fill the air as WEMC, the radio voice of ��ݮ����, features Christmas music the entire month of December.

Under the banner of "WEMC’s Classical Christmas," the station’s holiday programming will feature Christmas carols, instrumental arrangements of carols and longer works composed for the season, such as Handel’s "Messiah" and Vivaldi’s "Gloria," WEMC general manager said.

The station will also feature special Christmas programs from such performers as Wheaton College, Concordia College and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

Mondays through Fridays, the music will air 8 a.m.-2 p.m. and 1-4 p.m. Sundays, Kauffmann-Kennel noted.

Individuals, businesses and congregations can sponsor a day or a portion of a day of the holiday music. Those interested should contact Kauffmann-Kennel at 432-4287 or at wemc@emu.edu.

on the FM dial, broadcasts from 6 a.m. to midnight daily. Founded in 1955, it is Virginia’s first public radio station.

A retired ��ݮ���� faculty member is working to keep alive a rich musical legacy.

John L. Horst, Jr., professor emeritus of physics at EMU, hosts a weekly program, “Mostly Mennonite, Mostly A Cappella,” 8-9:30 a.m. Sundays. The show repeats 10:30 a.m. to noon on the university’s public radio station, .

The four-part, a cappella singing that is part of the heritage of worship in Mennonite congregations is featured on his 90 minute program. Horst draws from a variety of sources, inter-Mennonite and beyond, in selecting material to feature.

Horst, who taught at EMU from 1967 to 2004, sang bass from 1956 to 1963 as a member of one of the original “Mennonite Hour” quartets. The group recorded regularly for the radio broadcast and also toured the country with speaker B. Charles Hostetter to promote the program.

The “Mennonite Hour,” produced by Mennonite Broadcasts, Inc. (now Mennonite Media) based in Harrisonburg, started the program in 1952. Distribution peaked at more than 140 stations across North America in the early 1960’s. In 1965, the program was shortened to 15 minutes with less music, and in 1978 it went off the air.

“With the exception of [the late] EMU professors J. Mark Stauffer and Earl Maust, the singers in the 1950’s era were all dedicated amateurs from many walks of live in the greater Harrisonburg community,” Horst said. “However, all of them were well-schooled in the traditional Mennonite art of unaccompanied, four-part harmony singing.

“The singing was unpretentious, direct and committed to communicating the Gospel message,” he said. “The distinctive ‘Mennonite Hour’ sound was unmistakable – simple arrangements, solid harmony and clear diction.”

Horst noted that a recording studio built by Richard Weaver on S. College Ave. – converted from a chicken house in 1954 – “provided an excellent environment for good a cappella singing. In the 1950’s, a single, well-placed microphone was used with limited electronic processing.”

After Maust and Stauffer, leadership in the ‘second era’ of the 1960’s came from Marvin Miller, David Seitz and David Augsburger, Horst pointed out, adding: “The singing and sound is noticeably different, with stereo added in this period.” Augsburger went on to succeed B. Charles Hostetter as “Mennonite Hour” speaker.

In 1999, Horst began delving into the Mennonite Media archives and found himself reviewing archival tape recordings that were used on the “Mennonite Hour” broadcasts. He has since produced five compact disc reissues of hymns, gospel selections, folk hymns, spirituals and choral works, including two just-released recordings. Mennonite Media had released six CD’s on their own earlier.

The first of two new recordings, “Sing Them Over Again,” is a compilation of 27 original a cappella recordings by the “Mennonite Hour Singers from the early era, the decade of the the 1950’s.

A second collection, “A Symphony of Hymns,” employs the movements of a classical symphony – prelude, exposition, adagio, scherzo and finale – as a framework to present 26 songs of the church. These selections feature the music groups from the decade of the 1960’s.

“It was an honor to listen to and critique the rich ‘Mennonite Hour’ archive of about 900 acappella hymns and anthems,” Horst said. “It has been a pleasant journey . . . ‘This All My Song Shall Be.'”

For more information on Horst’s a cappella project and available recordings, see or call (800) 999-3534.

By Tom Mitchell, Daily News-Record

Neither John Martin nor his fellow alumni from ��ݮ���� imagined that their senior class’s parting present to their school would get the mileage it got.

In the spring of 1954, Martin and the rest of the graduates at what was then Eastern Mennonite College, along with seniors at neighboring Eastern Mennonite High School, gave a gift that kept on giving: a transmitter that increased power, range and, ultimately, impact, for EMU’s fledgling radio station, WEMC.

While Martin, 77, can’t recall its cost, the new conduit "was definitely an improvement," he said.

"We didn’t have any specific goal in mind when we started this," said Martin, a retired seminary and university professor. "We couldn’t think what it would become down the road."

Exceeding Founders’ Hopes

, which this fall celebrates 50 years on the air, eclipsed its founders’ highest hopes. What was a booth with a 10-watt signal that barely traveled beyond school grounds now uses a 2,000-watt transmitter to reach listeners more than 40 miles away. A program once confined to chats about campus life today plays five styles of music and airs national and world news from two syndicates: British Broadcasting Corp. and National Public Radio.

Before being publicly licensed in 1955, EMU’s radio "station" existed as a wire speaker that barely worked.

"A [tree] limb would come down on the wire, and the wire would continually need repairing," Martin said. "It didn’t work very well."

The improved site, built mainly to upgrade broadcasts of church services, gradually grew to become the daily operation it is today. The station eventually moved from EMU’s chapel in what is now Lehman Auditorium to its current location at on the university’s west side.

Today, WEMC’s programming stresses news and public affairs. The station is on the air from 7 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week.

With virtually no advertisers, WEMC relies almost exclusively on donations, said , EMU’s director of public relations. Bishop has long-time ties to WEMC, and says the station’s noncommercial style affords WEMC more flexibility than its commercial counterparts. With no sponsors, WEMC can freelance more, including in its menu of public-service programs and weekend "specialty" music shows.

Cultural Clout

WEMC’s legion of managers includes the station’s newest director, , who came to EMU two years ago from a similar post at Goshen College in Indiana. While he is relatively new to his post, Kauffmann-Kennel, 51, is impressed with his station’s past. Kauffmann-Kennel applauds WEMC’s early patrons who, however unknowingly, chartered their station’s course with what he considers a progressive gift.

"The gift that the class of ’54 gave was very forward-looking," Kauffman-Kennel said. "In the Mennonite church contest of that era, technology and modern things like radio would have been looked at a little warily, so they were forward-looking, at least in terms of [creating] wider church attitudes toward broadcasting. But they also gave the university an opportunity to share its values with a wider audience, a larger community."

The station’s emphasis, Kauffmann-Kennel adds, has also stretched WEMC’s presence.

"Over 50 years, WEMC has gone from being more internally to more externally focused," Kauffmann-Kennel said. "The station’s original power didn’t carry too far beyond the [adjoining] Park View neighborhood. Now we’re tying to bring EMU to the community and the community to EMU."