The WIKD 102.5 FM

Description

WIKD began as "The Broadcast Club" in the Spring semester of 1990, initially chartered by then-freshman Steve Graff. The first few meetings brought high turnout (ca. 75 students), but did not immediately lead to much organization. The club gained momentum after Graff met Todd Gumbrecht, another freshman resident of the same dormitory (Doolittle Hall, then known as Dorm II) as Graff. The two developed a strategy of "infiltration and propaganda" in order to meet their goal of establishing a campus radio station. The club became known for its fliers which were posted around campus (often in unapproved locations) to announce club meetings, as this was long before e-mail and text messaging and Facebook and Twitter. The fliers were influenced by the DIY ethic of punk rock, surrealism, 1950's clip art, science fiction, and "golden age" of radio. A flier typically consisted of cut-and-pasted and defaced photographs from magazines, and their graphic and provocative nature made them stand out from other notices on campus. The initial club logo was a stylized radio tower resembling the tower symbol from an FAA sectional chart, with the letters "WERU" drawn in a 1920's art deco type script. The radioactivity symbol became another popular club logo later, appearing on buttons, t-shirts, and stickers. With the preponderance of fliers, t-shirts, buttons, and stickers, some students believed there actually already was an operating station on campus. The club decided to pursue the goal of