If this is your first year attending our lovely little school, you probably have no idea that we have a campus radio station. Heck, this might be your eighth consecutive semester at Emmanuel College and you probably still don’t realize it.
Believe it or not, it exists.
It may not be Emerson’s WERS 88.9FM, sometimes it may not even have listeners, but ECRadio has been a refuge for the music junkies and would-be disc jockeys of 400 The Fenway since 2003.
“It may be a small club, but at the heart,” said 2007 graduate and founding member Brian Shea, “ECRadio is an organization that helps students to learn new skills and have fun while doing it. When I think back to my time at Emmanuel, I can’t help but remember the fun that I had broadcasting with my friends.”
Once buried in the bowels of the Cardinal Cushing Library, the station now broadcasts (or would broadcast) over the internet airwaves from the basement of the St. Joe’s hall. Due to countless unforeseen complications with broadcast servers over the past year and a half, ECRadio has shifted its focus from radio programming to live shows. With acts ranging from Kevin Devine to Frogball, Transit to Matt Pond PA, or Paul Baribeau to Daniel Striped Tiger, the generally free-or-suggested-donation-based shows have pulled in audiences on par with the publicized events of larger clubs with far superior budgets.
“Even though we have been treated like the underdogs here at Emmanuel,” said Christopher O’Toole, former co-host of Chocolate Shakes & Birthday Cakes and current club secretary, “we have successfully held great events on campus that brought together students and community members.”
Now here’s where you come in, beautiful underclassmen of Emmanuel College! The conclusion of this spring semester will not only bring about the end of ECRadio’s current executive board, but potentially the end of ECRadio altogether. For the much loved yet seldom discussed organization to continue, a courageous and creative crew of newcomers must step forward and pick up where students before them left off. Think you’re up for the challenge?
“ECRadio is a great outlet for students who love music but aren’t necessarily musically inclined,” said current sophomore Courtney Ferreira. “It’s the club where any student can fit in.”
No matter your taste, there’s a niche for you.
During its golden years, weeknight programming was stacked with hour-long blocks of sports, gossip and political talk radio and enough generic indie rock to make even Allston’s hippest feel slightly inadequate. Those days are over, but they don’t have to be.
“People seem to have the wrong impression about ECRadio,” said O’Toole, who will be graduating next month. “What we’re doing is giving students the chance to have some fun.”
ECRadio (2003-2010)? Stay tuned to find out.
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