College Radio Days

College Radio Days offers an overview of the history of college radio followed by an in-depth study of one institution, Dartmouth College. Dartmouth's stations reflect practically the entire history of college radio in the U.S., from the experimental stations of the 1920s to the wired, campus-limited stations of the 1940s and 1950s, the full power broadcast stations of the 1960s, and Internet radio today. Their evolution has been navigated by successive waves of students who were just learning how to lead, to communicate, and deal with the challenges of learning to run a business with an exceptionally prominent voice in the region. At Dartmouth challenges included fierce opposition from local commercial broadcasters, faculty who wanted to "take over," war protesters in the '60s, staff revolts, demands from women and minorities, and pressure from right and left wing groups determined to use the station's wide voice to pursue their own agendas. It is also a portrait of changes in campus life over more than 70 years. The book includes a description of the station's extensive news operation, which interviewed numerous national figures, and a listing of more than 700 student leaders over the years with their subsequent professions.