Community members on Chicago's North Side were recently disappointed to hear that they may not have as strong a say in programming at WLUW.
The station has been run for the past five years by Chicago Public Radio, but Loyola University recently exercised its option to reclaim the station for student use.
Now, some who have been involved in the success of the community-oriented station over the years have formed the Chicago Independent Radio Project—a group intent on securing a license from the FCC to operate a new low power FM community radio station.
That's how the story of a more successful college radio station on the south side began.
And it all began 30 years ago with two students and a phone booth.
WXAVhas since grown to a full-fledged broadcast station, at 88.3 FM, and has won numerous awards for its programming.
In honor of the station's 30th anniversary, Rob Quicke produced an hour-long documentary on its history.
He's the former director of Student Media for Saint Xavier, who now teaches and coordinates media at William Patterson University in New Jersey.
Quicke says the station's founders took a big risk when they began playing music out of a phone booth connected to the school's switchboard.
Hear Rob Quicke's hour-long documentary on WXAV.
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