What Was ‘Student Talk’? In 1996, Penn State Trustee Ben Novak approached students at the student radio station with a proposal. In short, it was a vision for a nationally syndicated student talk radio program that would be hosted from Penn State, and that it was an opportunity for young people to create a nationally …
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Penn State has historically been unique among its collegiate peers in that student broadcasters have used a “multiformat” programming schedule. An example of this sort of program schedule is below. It differs from commercial radio (which is largely “single format”, where an entire radio station might broadcast only one genre of music). But it also …
Mike Bezilla’s “Penn State: An Illustrated History” contains similar history to the Penn State Student Broadcasting Story plaque that hangs in The LION 90.7fm’s HUB-Robeson Center facilities. Bezilla tells the same story, but leaves out the role of the Senior Gift of the Class of 1912 and 8XE’s experimental period. Still, Bezilla’s illustrated history does contain two photos …
After more than 100 years, an enormous library of vinyl has come and gone through the broadcasting spaces of Penn State student radio. Here are a very few samples.
A long-running 10+ year public affairs talk program, Radio Free Penn State was a strident and unusually frank voice within the Penn State community that engaged students, alumni, faculty, trustees, administration, and community members in the spirit of bettering the university community. It was a distinct contribution to the local public affairs environment, and was …
In September 2009 alumni presented the students of The LION 90.7fm with two “Illustrated History” posters. The first poster featured an historical sketch of student radio’s re-birth as “WKPS 90.7fm” in 1995. The second poster featured the history of the radio station’s 2003 move from the James Building in downtown State College to the HUB-Robeson Center on campus. The posters can been seen …
Byran C. Marsh filmed and produced this short documentary on The LION 90.7fm’s morning program The Wake-Up Call, which first aired in early 2007, eventually dying out in 2013.
In June 2009, The LION 90.7fm was presented with a gift from alumni that graced the station’s HUB-Robeson Center studio. The gift was a Mount Nittany “Life Estate Deed,” a legal deed to one square inch of the iconic Mountain. These deeds are sold by the Mount Nittany Conservancy and proceeds help conserve the Mountain for future generations. The gift also was …
Penn State Media Alumni Interest Group