For Tanney, her exit marked the final radio show of her undergraduate education.
For the WIUX building, Tanney’s exit marked the final noon show broadcast out of the studio on the second floor of the house that harbored the University’s student radio station for 41 years.
IU’s student radio station WIUX aired its final broadcast out of 815 E. Eighth St. Monday.
Current and former staff had a final opportunity to go on-air in the studio that has served as the station’s headquarters since 1973.
“There have been many generations of college students who have come through and done what we’re doing now here,” Tanney said.
WIUX will be relocated to 715 E. Eighth St., which was previously used as a residence.
The University has said it will pay for the renovations needed in the house to accommodate the radio station, WIUX general manager Carolyn Suna said.
“We kind of found out so many other college radio stations are going through this process, but other universities are not being as supportive as IU has been financially and at least in providing a space actually, too,” Suna said.
The relocation of WIUX is part of the University’s larger plan to clear six homes from the area to construct a new fraternity house for Phi Gamma Delta.
The house on 815 E. Eighth St. will be moved to a vacant lot owned by the University.
Although the fraternity has yet to raise the adequate funds to begin construction, Associate Vice President of Communications Mark Land said the University wants to clear the land in the most efficient manner.
“If you’re going to move people from one building to another, summer is the best time because it’s the least disruptive,” Land said.
WIUX has experienced several relocations, including the move from 617 E. Eighth St. to 815 E. Eighth St. in 1973 because of arson.
Tanney said while the station has undergone several changes in its history, the essence of the broadcast hasn’t changed.
“I think that even though the technology has changed, even though the music has changed and the things we’re talking about on the talk shows have changed, the general spirit of what we’re doing as a radio station has remained the same,” she said.
The move to 715 E. Eighth St. will be temporary for WIUX. University officials and the station’s leadership are discussing the possibility of WIUX moving into Franklin Hall.
Should the station move into Franklin Hall, 715 E. Eighth St. will return to residential property, IU Director of Space Planning Karen Correll said.
Former WIUX sports director Daniel Karell said the collaboration between different student media would be a positive step for the radio station.
“I think that’s going to be a huge added bonus that freshmen are going to be able to do news or print or magazine, radio and TV all in the same building, all on campus,” Karell said.
The station was off-air for the relocation. The station returned for broadcasting during WIUX Alumni Weekend beginning July 25.
Although Suna will not be able to spend her senior year broadcasting from the second story of 815 E. Eighth St., she said it is not the building that has defined her experience at WIUX.
“It’s not this building that has made my past three years at WIUX really special, it’s been the people, and it’s always been the people,” Suna said. “It always is going to be the people that makes WIUX what it is.”
