Radio Union College

89.7 FM / The First Station in the Nation!

WRUC was first known as 2ADD and signed on at 8pm, October 14, 1920. Two young men hooked together five U tubes and attempted to broadcast 27 minutes of music. The show lasted from 8pm to 8:30pm with a 3 minute interruption at 8:15. William G. Craig, a 1923 graduate, was the station’s first announcer, and Glen C. Mercer, a 1916 graduate, built the first station. The first song to be played at the station was, “Tell Me Little Gypsy” by John Steel. In order to play music the students borrowed records from H.S. Barney Co. lin. for the first years of broadcasting. Before its first broadcast, there were many amateur broadcasts by the individuals within the radio club and part of the Electrical Engineering department including both students and professors. In 1917 with the United States declaration of war against Germany, the federal government suspended all amateur operations and ordered transmitters to be sealed and unauthorized for use. The original station and transmitter were located in a shack behind the EE building with a wire antenna strung between two nearby trees. The station went from a shed, to an engineering classroom, to Union’s Psi Upsilon fraternity, to the present admissions office to the Campus Center. In 1940 the station was given its new call letters WRUC which stood for Wireless Radio of Union College. In 1975 WRUC went FM operating at 10 watts....

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Contact:

WRUC Union College
Reamer Campus Center
Schenectady, New York 12308
518-388-6154