WVKR-FM

WVKR-FM (Independent Radio) is a college radio station owned by, and primarily staffed by students of, Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. The station broadcasts on 91.3 MHz at 3,700 watts ERP from a tower in Milton, New York with a directional signal to the south. The station also streams on the web at www.wvkr.org

History

When Vassar College became a co-educational institution in 1969, the school began plans to launch a campus radio station to serve both the campus and the nearby communities. Originally, the college planned to apply for a low-power license, however plans soon changed to a full-power licence when the tower site of WEOK-FM was donated to Vassar College after the construction of a new tower in Illinois Mountain in Marlboro. WVKR signed on from this tower on a test basis in December 1971 with full operations commencing after upgrades to the tower were made in March 1972.

For its entire existence, WVKR has been a primarily student-run station with a core staff of community volunteers running some programs on the station. Key programming on the station includes blues, jazz, RPM, hip hop, vintage rock, polka music, world music, classical, Cajun/Zydeco, talk, and indie rock, among others.