TECH HISTORY
The Alternative to Alternative Radio
BY MELISSA FRALICK
Georgia Tech’s WREK celebrates 50 years of ‘Quality, Diverse Music.’ ON THE NIGHT OF APRIL 7, the students who operate WREK—Tech’s longrunning radio station at 91.1 FM—were replaced. The regular programming was swapped for a show called WAVES Redux, run by a group of adults who took over the control boards from 9 p.m. to midnight. The takeover wasn’t hostile, but rather a welcome return to the DJ Booth for a few of the Tech alumni who helped develop the station in its early years on the air. “It’s been 50 years since we twisted knobs and turned buttons,” says Eric Roberts, IE 72. “Here’s two aging alumni from the olden days running this 100,000 watt station with no student supervision. They trusted us to run everything.” The program was a revival of a show called WAVES, featuring the kind of music they played on Saturday nights in the early 1970s. The WAVES Redux cameo was just one part of the 50th anniversary of WREK, celebrated during the weekend long WREKtacular festival April 6-8. W R E K a l u m n i f r o m a l l e ra s gathered for reunion events and offcampus concerts as part of WREKtacular. There were happy hours and trivia and dinners, a tour of the WREK studio, and the WREKtacular Music and Arts Show, which featured visual art and performances by 15 musical acts. WREK has been a force on campus for 50 years, providing students the opportunity to go on the air and broadcast their own unique programs
Sheena Ganju, IE 18, in the booth at the WREK radio station. Ganju got started at WREK as a freshman, and served as the station’s general manager before graduating in May.
and music, as well as work behind the scenes on all the engineering and computer coding for the radio station. Unlike many college radio stations, WREK is completely student run and non-commercial. At 100,000 watts, it broadcasts at the maximum power for an FM station, and can be heard in a 70-mile radius throughout metro Atlanta, in places like Kennesaw, Fayetteville and Duluth.
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A n d u n l i ke o t h e r u n ive r s i ty stations, WREK isn’t an extension of a communications or broadcast program. For most students, WREK is purely an extracurricular activity. Mac Pitts, director of student publications and media for Georgia Tech, says being part of WREK helps students to develop communication skills outside the classroom. “WREK is a way for students to be