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THE MOOSE, MISFITS AND POWER OF RADIO: U92

By West Virginia University

February 9^th, 2026

‘invisible airwaves, crackle with life’ – Rush, ‘The Spirit of Radio’

It’s fall 1983, and a West Virginia University freshman is returning to campus after a weekend home. As she drives her 1972 Oldsmobile Delta 88 west on Route 48 (not to be designated as Interstate 68 for eight more years) and crests over Chestnut Ridge at the Coopers Rock exit, the radio picks up WWVU-U92. Not much worked well on that car, except the radio, and hearing U92 on the dash meant coming home to Morgantown.

It’s hard to explain the power of radio to those who never had to rely on it as one of the few sources of music. Your only other options were hearing it on television, having a friend with a good record collection, access to a cool record store or live concerts. But radio was free, and you could listen in your car.

And the 1980s turned out to be the golden age of college radio.

‘no static at all’ – Steely Dan, ‘FM’

Steely Dan’s lyric made sense to their fans because FM radio produced clearer signals with less static than then-common AM radio. Unsung History’s “The History of College Radio” reported that “in 1948, to popularize FM radio, the FCC introduced class D noncommercial education licenses for low-watt college radio stations. By 1967, 326 FM radio stations operated as ‘educational radio,’ 220 of which were owned and operated by colleges and universities.” These new stations appeared on the then-little-used left side of the dial, say around the “92” area.

In the late 1970s, WVU students had requested a radio station. After all of the paperwork, licensing (still held by the WVU Board of Governors) and acquiring of equipment, WWVU-FM, U92, went live on the air in 1982 with the phrase: “You’re listening to the all-new U92.”

The 1983 Monticola yearbook included details about the new 2,600-watt station. Contributor Jerry Brookover wrote:

WWVU-FM was a member of the National Association of Broadcasters, the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System and the ABC FM Radio Network. Noncommercial, the station was funded by student fees and broadcast from a transmitter situated atop the Engineering Sciences Building. Studios and offices, staffed by student volunteers, were located in the Mountainlair.
WWVU-FM also had many special programs. “Dragnet” and “The Unexplainable” provided drama for suspense fans. Two or three times each semester, U92 also featured interviews with University President E. Gordon Gee [this was during his original tenure]. Students called in to ask Gee questions on the air.
U92 was on the air 134 hours per week, 12 months a year. The staff of approximately 100 students … played a diverse selection of music … primarily album-oriented rock. Many alternative styles, however, could be found … Some of these included jazz, reggae, classical, bluegrass, big band, funk and blues.
With a news staff of 25 and a public affairs staff of 20, U92 constantly kept people informed. With a sports staff of 15, WWVU-FM extensively covered University sports. On-the-scene pregame, halftime and postgame capsule reports were broadcast live from every WVU football and basketball game, home or away.

U92 students meet at a table in the Daily Athenaeum office. Students sit around a table with laptops and a copy of — U92 students talk about college soccer before their sports segment starts.

U92 students talk NFL football as they host radio programming on Jan. 28, 2026.

U92 student Crystal Hanes listens to Nathan Skinner during radio programming on Jan. 28, 2026.

‘let’s do the time warp again’ – ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’

By 1985, that big-car driving freshman had become a sophomore who picked up a copy of “The Wireless,” a printed schedule for U92 (for some reason printed in lurid pink/purple ink). It opened into a foldout that showed the entire week’s programming, which included 120 hours of album rock, jazz, funk, classical, sports and reggae shows, along with the interestingly-named “Something about the Women” and “No Remorse! Heavy Metal.” The station also carried “Dr. Demento” (a favorite) and “The Time Warp,” a daily lunchtime oldies show.

“The Time Warp” is now an alumni program. It last aired in summer 2025, and featured “classic rock from the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s,” showing that as time continues to warp on, what was once the latest constantly slides into the oldies slot.

You can hear music, sports, news and talk radio, plus programming that proves “alternative” is still meaningful — “Female Frequencies,” Pop Punk’s Not Dead,” “Marsha’s Mixtape,” “Club Classics,” “Glitter Gel Pen” and “Drown in Disco.”

the (really) new radio pioneer

But was U92 actually the first WVU radio experiment? According to “Education’s Own Stations,” published in 1937, “On March 16, 1922, WVU was licensed to operate a broadcast transmitter with 250 watts of power. The call letters WHD were assigned.” C.W. Waggoner, a physics professor conducted experimental work in radio communication. Radio was a new medium and it was sort of anything goes. But the license was allowed to expire, and the station was “deleted by the federal government on Nov. 19, 1923.”

The book adds: “For some years prior to 1933, the University made use of time donated by Station WMMN, of Fairmont … [for] the West Virginia School of the Air. The station established a studio in Morgantown and gave the University 20 minutes daily for its programs,” covering agriculture, home economics, music, journalism, law, engineering, German, medicine, philosophy, botany, zoology and geology. The original alternative class delivery method!

‘This is radio nowhere, is there anybody alive out there?’ – Bruce Springsteen, ‘Radio Nowhere’

U92 is alive, as is most of college radio, despite some challenges. According to Airtime (a broadcast streaming platform), there are about 600 college radio stations in the U.S.

The request line hasn’t changed since the 80s: 304-293-FM92. All U92 content is entirely student-generated. Some positions are paid, with 65 students working at the station. There are about 8,000 listeners via broadcast, plus 2,300 online. A healthy social presence includes 3,200 Facebook users, 2,800-plus on X and 1,300 on Instagram. Over 20 student-created podcasts are made in conjunction with Daily Athenaeum writers. In 2015, U92 won the College Music Journal Station of the Year award.

A 2020 DA article for New Student Orientation described U92 as existing in “the most peculiar of Venn diagrams: It brings together underground, alternative and traditional college radio musicians and enthusiasts as well as future broadcasters and journalists who hone their craft under the tutelage of professional staff and the ready assistance of thousands of successful alumni.”

They quoted Adam Crowley, a former U92 Sports Rookie of the Year: “U92 is the reason I stayed at WVU. I met my best friends at the station. I didn’t know a group of people so diverse could get along until I worked there.” Crowley became a full-time radio host for ESPN Radio Pittsburgh after graduating in 2013.

This ties in with what WVU Director of Student Media Madison Cook believes. She’s a WVU alum from Charleston who returned here after working in television out of state, and believes, “It’s the best job I’ve ever had. I love working with students. They have a lot to learn, but I have a lot to learn from them.” She adds, “U92 is beneficial to all students. We’ve had biology, PhD students, all majors work here. On the sports side, students usually go on to be media professionals, but on the music side, it’s their outlet and a place to make friends. They often describe themselves as misfits, and U92’s a safe space.”

Close-up of a U92 radio station sound mixing board. Red lights glow on the left, with black buttons and sliding controls across the surface. Text reads — The mixing board at the old U92 office in the Mountainlair.

Jakob Janoski, U92 Operations Manager, stands in the student radio station. He looks down at stacks of CDs on a desk, with more CDs lining shelves nearby. — Jakob Janoski, then-operations manager for U92, at work on May 2, 2023.

U92 radio station office: walls covered in band posters and stickers. A computer sits on a desk cluttered with CDs and promotional items. A doorway reveals shelves packed with CDs. — Band posters adorn the walls inside an office at the U92 station.

‘and the day is young, in morning Morgantown’ – Joni Mitchell, ‘Morning Morgantown’

U92 Station Manager Harley Cochran seemed destined to attend WVU, because “My grandad came here, and mom. My middle name is Morgan because of Morgantown.” The sports and adventure media major also works for ESPN+, spent 4 years at U92 and was their first digital content director. The Latrobe, Pennsylvania, native “joined as a scared freshman who didn’t know anyone,” but met her best friends there.

She feels that the future of college radio “is kind of up in the air, with some college stations getting bought out by private companies. Students really have to want it; we’re lucky that WVU is so supportive.” The coolest thing she’s gotten to do was send people to cover WVU women’s basketball in Iowa against now-WNBA star Caitlin Clark.

Nick Kratsas, the station’s digital operations manager, is a Mountaineer from Pittsburgh who earned a master’s in journalism here. He describes an ordinary day as “tinkering in the radio studio, teaching podcasting and lurking in the shadows to keep things running.” It’s his opinion that “while we are leaning more toward digital channels, I see FM radio sticking around. You can’t get our coverage from Spotify or an algorithm.”

Hurricane, West Virginia, native Quinn Robie is a play-by-play announcer and sports director for the station. Also a sports and adventure media major, he always wanted to call games on the radio, “And now I do it. I’ve probably worked over 100 games and also interned with the West Virginia Black Bears minor league baseball team.” As a child, he listened to broadcasts of WVU games on a hidden radio in his bedroom after bedtime. Now, “I travel over the East Coast calling Black Bears games, and I call men’s and women’s basketball, football. We’re the flagship station for WVU soccer, so I do all of their home games.”

He’s more assured about the future of college radio: “It’s adapting. They don’t say ‘Steelers Radio Network’ anymore, they say ‘Audio Network.’ It’s definitely moving more to internet-based, but it’s not dying. Our radio stream can play through Alexa.”

why a moose?

The cover of that 1985 “Wireless” handout displayed U92’s mascot, the Moose, sitting on the front steps of the Lair (all in glowing ’80s pink). The station’s webpage says, “According to one legend, the station was looking for a mascot, and the cheapest costume they could find was a moose. Another account says that a radio station had shut down, and the moose costume was sold off and somehow made its way to U92. Maybe some former DJ just liked moose and here we are. While its origins are unclear, the moose is nearly as old as U92 — the first mention of a moose mascot was in 1983.”

The reality may be a bit more prosaic, as according to the first broadcast adviser, Roy Gerritsen, he selected the Moose as the mascot, helped design it and purchased the costume from a Pittsburgh costume store.

Cochran says there is a work-study position for a lucky student who’s paid to wear the Moose suit, but for events that person can’t make, there’s never a lack of volunteers: “It’s one of the most fun things, so silly.” So, why not a moose?

U92's Moose mascot in a blue shirt leans on a railing overlooking a room, likely during the 24 Hour Pledge Drive. — The Moose mascot for U92 hangs out in the Mountainlair during a pledge drive Feb. 13, 2025.

The Moose poses with some students at the WVU Coliseum.

An On Air sign at the studios of U92 The Moose, the student-run radio station at WVU, in 2023.

U92 student Nathan Skinner talks about Steelers football during radio programming on Jan. 28, 2026.

U92 students talk before their sports segment starts on Jan. 28, 2026.

when a door opens (it’s moved)

In 2021, U92 moved from the Mountainlair to the Prospect Street home of the Daily Athenaeum. Building renovations were planned, but COVID-19 struck, and an office was turned into a makeshift studio while podcasts were done in the basement. “It was rough at first,” said Cook.

The station struggled overall during the pandemic, and alumni support was key to keeping it on the air. Alex Wiederspiel (RBA ’20 and integrated marketing communications MA, ’22) was especially helpful with sports coverage during that challenging time.

Kratsas recalls, “When U92 first moved in, some of the DA folks put up ‘moose hunting’ signs.” But he observed, “As they shared space and began working together and creating podcasts together, the collaboration really kicked in. The result is better content and more cohesion.”

Cook adds, “The goal was to create collaboration. And now, the staffs of the DA and Prospect and Price Creative, a student-run creative services agency, work together. That’s the way the industry is going. You’ll have to know how to do it all: record, do multimedia, video.”

Robie noted that “we’re a partnership. I write for the Daily Athenaeum, writers do podcasts, it’s all kind of the same, and it makes a bigger bond, working together.”

By February 2025, renovations created two professional broadcast studios centered around a lounge area, which can be used for on-air performances and discussions. Entirely funded by donations, the work was done by March-Westin Company at a discounted price, thanks to support from the late Phil Weser, March-Westin’s CEO and co-founder, who became involved with radio in college, sparking a lifelong appreciation for unique music and entertainment.

Cook says many remembered the distinctive studio door, which was covered with colorful stickers for bands and events featured on the station. In the move, alumni just took it right off its hinges and brought it along — it’s been modified to use as the new studio’s main entrance. “It helps us keep in mind where we started, as the heart of the ‘misfits’ of the University.”

pledging for the future

U92 still broadcasts over the air (referred to as “terrestrial” in the industry). The tower is now located off of Willey Street behind Mountaineer Middle School, but it’s hard to find engineers who can maintain the equipment. The tower’s lighting system went out and needs to be repaired because of FAA and FCC requirements – the estimate is $15,000.

Constant upgrades are needed for all of the equipment, which is exactly what students will use in any future career in the industry, plus paying for students to cover away sporting events and going to industry conferences. That’s where the latest pledge drive comes in.

“Pledge Your Love to the Moose” runs from 6 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 9, through noon on Saturday, Feb. 14. Tune in for special music, sports, and live entertainment to help raise money for U92. Supporters can donate cash, Crypto, through PayPal, Venmo, ApplePay/GooglePay, and paper checks through snail mail.

College radio is really about having alternatives. So no matter if your favorite band is Cage the Elephant (Cochran is 100% obsessed), Morgan Wallen (favored by Robie), the Smashing Pumpkins (Kratsas) or First Aid Kit (Cook), you’ll find it on U92.

Robie put it best: “It’s a group I can fall back on. We’re more of a family and best friends for life.” And Cook summed up the U92 experience as “They started as misfits, but now have their place at WVU.”

So as you tune in to your favorite U92 show, on your phone or computer, or of course driving in your car (like me, no matter the year), you’ll hear something interesting as it grounds you in the Morgantown sound of home.

Pledge Your Love to the Moose

A mixing board with glowing orange lights and faders sits in a dimly lit radio studio. In the background, two people wear headphones near a neon sign that reads — A mixing board used to trim vocal levels and other audio details blinks lights and shows real time information during U92 radio programming Jan. 28, 2026.

Footnotes

Story by Kathy DeWeese. Photos by Brian Persinger, Jennifer Shephard, Derek Artimez and WVU archives.

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FootNotes

Story by Kathy DeWeese. Photos by Brian Persinger, Jennifer Shephard, Derek Artimez and WVU archives.

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THE MOOSE, MISFITS AND POWER OF RADIO: U92

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