Concise Encyclopedia of Tufts History

Sauer, Anne

Branco, Jessica

Bennett, John

Crowley, Zachary

2000

WMFO, 1971

 

WMFO began broadcasting on February 6, 1971, as a daily AM radio station. Over the next few years it became a twenty-four hour a day FM station, while being lauded as one of the best college radio stations in Boston.

WMFO began broadcasting out of the third floor of as a daily AM station, running a few programs a day, but soon developed enough local interest to switch to the FM band, with ten watts at 91.5 FM. Licensed as an educational radio station, WMFO was required by the FCC to broadcast local and national news and public affairs, and as a result became quite popular in Medford and Somerville. In 1973, with a $1000 grant from the TCU Senate, WMFO broadcast live coverage of the Medford and Somerville elections, including taped interviews with the mayoral candidates.

In 1974, WMFO finally had enough DJs and funding to begin broadcasting twenty-four hours a day, and began to follow the freeform format that characterizes the station today. Along with newscasts at different points during the day, WMFO played music that would not normally have been heard on popular radio. The weekly WMFO schedule included, for example, a Haitian music program and a Brazilian program.

On April 2, 1977, WMFO suffered a major setback when fire destroyed most of . The fire, which was detected while WMFO was on the air, destroyed the entire third floor of Curtis, causing over $100,000 damage to the WMFO studios and destroying 12,000 records. Not to be defeated, however, WMFO was back broadcasting within six hours, going out live from the loft in Eaton Lounge. After a delay of about a week, WMFO set up in the Bolles House until Curtis could be repaired. In that same small period of time, the station had already received over 2500 records and $3200 in donations to restore the studio.

By the beginning of the fall semester in 1977, repairs to Curtis were complete and WMFO was able to move back in. Over the next few months, WMFO worked to improve their studios, and in early 1978 installed $20,000 worth of new equipment in .

In January of 1982, after a long application process with the FCC, WMFO's request to move from 10 to 125 watts was finally approved. The station upgrade allowed their signal to travel further, increasing the WMFO's potential audience.

Although WMFO has occasionally faced student accusations that the programming is not always what the campus wants to hear, the station has remained true to its freeform style, and as of 2001 continues to broadcast freeform radio seven days a week.

Source: TW, OBS, TD

 
 
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  • The encyclopedia seeks to capture more than 150 years of Tufts' achievements, societal contributions and outstanding alumni and faculty in concise entries. As a source of accurate factual information, the Encyclopedia can be used by anyone interested in the history of Tufts and of the people who have made it the unique institution it is.
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 Introduction
 Content
Numeric Entries
A
B
C
D
Dame, Lorin Low, 1838-1903
Dana, Charles A., 1881-1975
Dana Laboratory, 1963
Daniel Ounjian Prize in Economics,
Davies, Caroline Stodder, 1864-1939
Davies House, 1894
De Florez Prize in Human Engineering, 1964
de Pacheco, Kaye MacKinnon, ca. 1910-ca. 1985
Dean Hall, 1887-1963
Dean, Oliver, 1783-1871
Dearborn, Heman Allen, 1831-1897
Department of Anatomy and Cellular Biology, 1893
Department of Anesthesia, 1970
Department of Art and Art History, 1930
Department of Biochemistry, 1893
Department of Chemistry, 1882
Department of Community Health, 1930
Department of Dermatology, 1897
The Department of Economics, 1946
Department of Medicine, 1893
Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology
Department of Neurology, 1893
Department of Neuroscience, 1983
Department of Neurosurgery, 1951
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 1893
Department of Ophthamology, 1893
Department of Orthopedic Surgery, 1906
Department of Otolaryngology, 1895
Department of Pathology, 1893
Department of Pediatrics, 1930
Department of Pharmacology, 1915
Department of Physics and Astronomy, 1854
Department of Physiology, 1893
Department of Psychiatry, 1928
Department of Radiation Oncology, 1968
Department of Radiology, 1915
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, 1955
Department of Surgery, 1893
Department of Urban and Environmental Policy, 1973
Department of Urology, 1910
Dental Health Sciences Building, 1969
Dewick, Cora Alma (Polk), 1875-1977
Dewick/MacPhie Dining Hall, 1959
Dickson Professorship of English and American History, 1913
Dirlam, Arland A., 1905-1979
Dog Cart, 1900
Dolbear, Amos Emerson, 1837-1910
Donald A. Cowdery Memorial Scholarship, 1946
Dr. Benjamin Andrews Professorship of Surgery, 1987
Dr. Philip E. A. Sheridan Prize, 1977
The Drug Bust, 1970
Dudley, Henry Watson, 1831-1906
Dugger, Edward Jr., 1919-75
Durkee, Frank W., 1861-1939
Durkee, Henrietta Noble Brown, 1871-1946
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
R
S
T
U
V
W
Z
 List of Sources