Alumni push for funding for Lehigh’s radio station

WLVR-HD-2, Lehigh’s student-run radio station, has struggled with funding challenges since the station’s operations were handed over to the organization Lehigh Valley Public Media. 

A lack of transparency and communication from Lehigh’s administration and LVPM regarding the station’s ownership, funding and operations have left alumni frustrated — many of whom believe the station is a pivotal student-run organization that should be in the hands of the students. 

Since 2019, Lehigh has had a partnership with the organization LVPM to operate its radio station through a Lease Management Agreement. Under the agreement, the university has ownership of the Federal Communication Commissions license and LVPM has ownership of the radio’s signal. 

As of last semester, Chris Senft, ‘89, took over the role of chief operator for WLVR-HD-2. 

Senft said in exchange for the operation of the FM signal, LVPM would provide funding to the station, internships and hands-on opportunities for students.

However, Senft said a few years after the Lease Management Agreement was formed, Lehigh’s Student Senate voted for the radio station to not be a funded organization. He said the radio station is currently not being funded by the university or LVPM. 

Since then, Senft has been working to increase student engagement and funding for the station. 

Senft said the station needs funding in order to update the station’s computers, as they’re not in compliance with Lehigh technology services. 

“People on the Student Senate at the time believed that we were getting funding from somewhere else, which (we) were not, and so they rescinded our funding,” Senft said. “So we’ve gotten burned both ways.”

Jim Cameron, ‘72, WLVR’s student program director during his time at Lehigh, said it was discouraging to hear the Student Senate didn’t know the station doesn’t receive funding from other sources.

“The Student Senate made the assumption that the radio station was no longer a club and had other funding sources and did not get corrected on that or did not check that out,” Cameron said. “That’s not very encouraging to this alumnus as to how much the Student Senate knows what’s going on.”

Cameron is a member of the Tower Society, an alumni group that recognizes donors who make long-term gifts to the university. He said members have had questions about the Lease Management Agreement. 

Cameron said he and other alumni emailed Provost Nathan Urban about the agreement and their concerns and have not received a response. 

“We never got a reply,” Cameron said. “We never got the courtesy of a response, even to say, ‘Thanks for writing. We’re working on it, stay tuned.’ Nothing. That, I thought, was inappropriate.”

In his email, Cameron asked Urban whether LVPM will uphold its portion of the Lease Management Agreement to oversee internships and provide opportunities for Lehigh students.

“If (Lehigh doesn’t) better communicate, the rumor mill is just going to run rampant, and that’s going to confuse alumni who tend to write checks,” Cameron said. 

Cameron is among several alumni who have tried to reach out to Urban but have yet to receive a response. 

David Polakoff, ‘86, hosted a rock-and-roll music show called “The Almost Live Show” and a talk show called “Speakeasy” that featured topical interviews for WLVR during his time at Lehigh.

Polakoff first met Cameron at the radio station when Cameron came to Lehigh as a visiting alumnus. The two have since had a long-lasting friendship. 

Polakoff said one of the great aspects of WLVR was how it fostered connections between students and alumni.

In his email to the Provost, Polakoff urged returning the radio station to the students’ hands as opposed to being operated by LVPM, but he has yet to receive a response. 

He said there are many opportunities for students across majors that could be put to better use if the station wasn’t owned by an outside organization. 

“I think alumni, including myself, would be willing to come back for a period, for a day or two, and promote what the opportunities are at the station,” Polakoff said.

After multiple inquiries from The Brown and White for an interview, Urban requested to receive interview questions in advance. In this instance, The Brown and White elected to send questions via email. 

Once the questions were shared, Urban cancelled and rescheduled two meetings. 

Urban’s Administrative Specialist Heather Huggins wrote in emails to The Brown and White that the first meeting would need to be rescheduled “given the complexity of the questions” and the second meeting would need to be rescheduled because Urban was “still gathering information” for the interview. 

In the interview with The Brown and White, Urban said there is no designated office or staff member who tracks LVPM’s compliance with the Lease Management Agreement. 

Urban also said he is unaware of a person or system in place to keep track of internships provided to Lehigh students through the agreement. 

He did not specify any evidence or examples to prove that LVPM has been providing funding to the station, but he said the organization has been giving support.  

“They certainly have provided us with funding that’s aligned with the agreement,” he said.

Urban said the university has benefitted from promotions broadcast on the station through underwriting, which includes advertising for things happening at Lehigh. 

Urban also said if students want access to opportunities from LVPM, they need to reach out because they are not posted anywhere for students to find. He did not specify who interested students should reach out to. 

He said he believes the radio station is a student-centered organization and an asset to the university by providing opportunities for students to engage in activities that are structured, allowing them to work and intern with LVPM.

Urban also said he is focused on supporting the interests of current students.

“I understand that there’s some alumni who had a great experience with the radio station,” Urban said. “It was important to them and to their time at Lehigh, (but) the level of interest in radio, and especially broadcast radio, is not what it once was.”

Senft said it has proved difficult to garner student involvement as the station cannot upgrade its technology, but there has been some increase in student engagement.

Senft said he will continue to fight for funding for the station, but he remains frustrated with the administration.

“We have a long history, almost 100 years of having a radio club,” Senft said. “At first it was more of an on-campus only radio, but nevertheless, it was still a club. And now we have diminished it to nothing because of poor decisions by the administration.”