IU graduates to return to for 99.1 FM WIUX Alumni Weekend

WIUX might sound a little funny to listeners this weekend — not because of solar interference creating static during the broadcast, but because of flashback programming provided by a host of IU alumni.

This annual event, WIUX Alumni Weekend, will bring an estimated 40 to 50 IU gradautes back to Bloomington to take back their cherished student radio.

“They try to live by what they played when they were students,” WIUX station manager Ryan Patena said. “There will be a lot of music from the ’60s and ’70s. They’ll be replaying a lot of their old promotional items as well, so it’s really a cool flashback to how IU radio operates.”

It is the goal of the station to get as many of the alumni as possible back on the radio to relive their experiences as student radio disk jockeys. From 8 p.m. to midnight Friday, alumni will host an All-Request Oldies Show, giving community members a chance to request some of their classic favorites.

From 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, listeners around the globe will have the chance to participate in an annual scavenger hunt.

“We’re asking people to find things and take of picture of them with the item and send it to us,” participating alumnus Greg Barman said. “They can be anywhere in the world. They don’t have to be in Bloomington, because they can listen online.”
Prizes will be awarded to the winners of the hunt, although the awards have not been announced yet.

Filling the station with alumni proves helpful for current students as well, giving them opportunities to work with professional radio and television personalities with extra enthusiasm for IU student radio.

“It’s really a great experience because they will all be in the radio station, and we will get a current group of WIUX students in who have sort of a Q&A and find out a little bit more about their current positions,” Patena said. “And it’s a great networking opportunity as well.”

Many students take advantage of the professional experience that working for WIUX provides and use the station as a launching pad for their careers.

“I started when I came in as a freshman in 1971,” Barman said. “I was a radio / TV major, but I wanted to do more than just take the classes. It’s a chance to get involved and get some practical experience. I walked in on one of the first days that I was on campus and volunteered to help out.”

The group of alumni returning to Bloomington this weekend have taken their radio experience in diverse directions but still remain passionate for their original call letters.

“We have a really dedicated group of alumni from the late ’60s and early ’70s,” Patena said. “They’re nearing the end of their careers, but they are still very willing to help out
IU students.

“There are some who have been very successful with radio careers and some who have taken their radio station experience and taken it to totally different careers.”
The students who participated in campus radio back in the early ’70s were unified by one particular tragedy, keeping their bond strong today.

“My sophomore year, the station had a fire and burned down to the ground,” Barman said. “At that point, we just kind of set up a makeshift studio in Wright Quad, and everybody just kind of did what they could. We had to do whatever we could do to keep the station running.”

After recovering from the fire, the radio station was relocated into its current location on Eighth Street, where alumni will gather this weekend to take back what once was theirs.